Agave Americana

Moving down south has been an interesting experience for us. We were big flower gardeners in Illinois. The plants down here are so completely unfamiliar and I just cannot find the time and energy to learn an entirely new temperate zone. This blog will feature one of the plants in this area that has drawn my attention the last few days.

This agave americana is about a quarter mile from our house. The bloom stalk rising up from the plant is about 15 feet tall. The plant goes by several names: sentry plant, century plant, maguey and American aloe. In order to keep things simple and so everyone can know what plant I am talking about I have chosen to use its scientific classification agave americana. The plant pictured above has not bloomed yet, it has just sent up its bloom stalk. While it is referred to as the century plant it typically lives only about 10 to 30 years. It has a spread of 6 to 10 feet with gray green leaves that are 3 to 5 feet long. The bloom stalk may reach a height of 25 to 30 feet. The answer to the alcohol question is yes. In the tequila producing regions of Mexico agaves are called mezcales. The high alcohol product of agave distillation is called mezcal. Agave americana is one of the agaves used for distillation.

Now for the sad truth about this picture. The plant pictured is dying. It is what happens to the plant after flowering. The agave is a desert plant and the areas where it grew naturally were dry, had poor soil and an unforgiving sun. The act of blooming and producing seed requires lots of energy. The plant has built up and stored that energy for many years. By the time you see the bloom stalk the plant is well on its way to dying. If you cut off the bloom stalk before the plant blooms it will still die. All you have accomplished is missing out on the bloom.

So, a blog post in the near future will feature this or one of the other plants around the island that are going to bloom this year. I am sure that we will toast its beauty and death with a shot of tequila.