Not to be confused with Agave macrantha, a synonym of Agave mitis

Agave macroacantha, the black-spined agave or large-thorned agave, is a species of succulent flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae naturally occurring in Oaxaca and also near the town of Tehuacan in the State of Puebla, Mexico.[4]

Description

Agave macroacantha produces a medium-sized leaf rosette that can be basal or can grow on a very short stem. Leaves are succulent, greyish green and up to 1.8 feet long at a maximum, ending in sharp black spines that are up to 1.2 inches long at the tips. Flowers are small, grey and red, growing in bunches on sturdy stems of up to 3 m (10 feet) in height.[5]

Cultivation

The plant prefers a dry, sunny and hot location for summer and from early autumn onwards a cooler, well-lit space. It likes regular watering in summer and only minimum watering in winter, and will fare well in a large pot with sparse, gravelly soil.[6][2][7]

In the UK this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[8]

References

  1. ^ García-Mendoza, A.J.; Torres-García, I.; Casas, A.; Sandoval-Gutiérrez, D. (2019). "Agave macroacantha". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T115645621A116354068. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T115645621A116354068.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Cactus Art Nursery, Agave macroacantha viridis
  3. ^ The Plant List, Agave macroacantha
  4. ^ Zuccarini, Joseph Gerhard. Nova Acta Physico-medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Naturae Curiosorum Exhibentia Ephemerides sive Observationes Historias et Experimenta 16(2): 676. 1833.
  5. ^ Gentry, Howard Scott. Agaves of Continental North America. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1992.
  6. ^ San Marcos Growers, Agave macroacantha
  7. ^ Jurassic Garden.com: Agave macroacantha Archived 2015-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, image.
  8. ^ "RHS Plantfinder - Agave macroacantha". Royal Horticultural Society. 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  • The Complete Encyclopedia of Succulents by Zdenek Jezek and Libor Kunte