The misnamed Parry’s century plant, or Agavi parryi, actually grows for about 25-30 years before producing a 10-18 foot flower stalk that shoots forth at sometimes one foot per day, then dies. Yet it lives on by propagating itself with offshoots called pups.
The sharp points on the long roseate of ridged leaves should be avoided but were used in the past as needles, and a very strong fiber can be made from the leaves.
The century plant proved very useful to native peoples. The stem stores water and when young can be trimmed from the roots and leaves then baked. I want to try this but will need a little help to chop up one of these spikey plants, plus good gloves.
Starting about June the reddish buds will produce yellow flower clusters.
By winter the dried stalk makes an elegant spire against a clear blue sky. In fact the genus Agave is from the Greek word agavos for admirable, noble and splendid. And the dried stalk makes a good light-weight, sturdy walking stick.
This is not the species to make mescal or tequila from. For that you’ll need to go to Mexico to find the blue agave.
To view more interesting shadows from around the world go to Shadow Shot Sunday 2 by clicking here.
Nice pics!
Great shadow shots for the day and a very interesting post, Gaelyn! I’ve always thought the Agave was a very lovely plant. Enjoy your weekend!
Sylvia
I always remember my gloves when handling prickly plants 🙂 Diane
Very interesting information on this plant! I love the shadows in your top photo.
Amazing growth and lifespan of this plant! Especially loved the 3rd photo showing the purple tones of the plant!
Wonderful shadow in the top photo and I love the information about this plant — I (unfortunately) remember learning the lesson about how prickly this plant is — the hard way. But the rest was new. Thanks!
Cool Shadow Shots! We have a few century plants around here about ready to croak now. Too bad. They are one of those plants that require zero care! Happy SSS.
These are lovely shots. Thank you for your beautiful contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday 2.
More Shadows here
Rose
This is really a beautiful shot and I love the capture of its shadow. One of my favorite plants to have around in the desert and I especially like it when the stalk shoots out from the center. When the stem falls, it can be dangerous:) I’ve seen this stalk this year used as a holiday themed tree. Very cool.
Hey! When did you move your blog over here? guess i must have been sleeping on the job… Is this wordpress or blogger?
5 Stars–Most excellent and all the other adjectives you could add.
I Loved this series,
John
Sometimes the simple things from nature makes the best shots.
These photos are wonderful,, Gaelyn. I also was interested in your explanation. New blog format?
wow…how very cool. thanks for sharing this!!!!
We have the agave plant growing in South Africa and there used to be an agave distillary in Graaff Reinet. Don’t think its there anymore though. I would love to have one of these in the garden.
That’s a pretty impressive flower spike but I wouldn’t get to close to those spines, I’ve heard they jump out at you ;>)
Mescal (mezcal) is made from the mezcal agave also known as maguey. Tequila can be ONLY made from the blue agave and ONLY when grown in areas approved by the Mexican government. Even if it is from a blue agave it can not be called tequila unless grown in those approved areas; it must be called mescal in that situation.
This is a great post, Gaelyn! I have one planned myself, as I am following the progression of a stalk growth and now flowering, with my camera. I love the pictures you made, and the info is great!
We won’t be able to make it to the N Rim this summer after all. We will only have time to do the S Rim this time, but maybe we can later. I will let you know. Have a great summer!