 |
Agave vilmoriniana-Octopus Agave
Octopus Agave is a medium to large
plant, growing to 4 feet high by 6 feet wide. The arching twisted leaves are medium
green, long and narrow, and deeply channeled and fleshy. The undulating
and twisting leaves show why this plant is called Octopus Agave. The leaf margins
have very fine, soft serrations and a soft terminal spine.
Each plant
blooms once taking 6-8 years to bloom, sending up a 15 to 20 foot tall spike of
spectacular golden yellow
flowers. This flowering generally occurs from March to May. The flowers
are followed by both seed capsules and bulbils. (Bulbils are “baby”
plants that are produced along the flower spike. These can be collected
and planted to replace the dead mother plant.)
It handles full sun in coastal regions, and looks best if it
receives some shade in low deserts. It is somewhat subject
to agave snout weevils. It is native in north west Mexico from
2000-5000' on volcanic cliffs. It does not take reflected heat and
is a bit frost sensitive below 25F.
|
