Century plant or maguey

Appearance

Although it is called the century plant, it typically lives only 10 to 30 years. It has a spread of about 4 ft with gray-green leaves up to 2 ft long, each with a prickly margin and a heavy spike at the tip that can pierce to the bone. Near the end of its life, the plant sends up a tall, branched stalk, laden with yellow blossoms, that may reach a total height of up to 25–30 ft tall.

Its common name derives from its semelparous nature of flowering only once at the end of its long life. The plant dies after flowering, but produces suckers or adventitious shoots from the base, which continue its growth.

Naming

"Agave americana" was one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1753 edition of "Species Plantarum", with the binomial name that is still used today.Two subspecies and two varieties of "Agave americana" are recognized by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families:
⤷ "Agave americana" subsp. "americana"
⤷ "Agave americana" subsp. "protamericana" Gentry
⤷ "Agave americana" var. "expansa" Gentry
⤷ "Agave americana" var. "oaxacensis" Gentry

Cultivars include:
⤷ 'Marginata' with yellow stripes along the margins of each leaf
⤷ 'Mediopicta' agm with a broad cream central stripe
⤷ 'Mediopicta Alba' agm with a central white band
⤷ 'Mediopicta Aurea' with a central yellow band
⤷ 'Striata' with multiple yellow to white stripes along the leaves
⤷ 'Variegata' agm with white edges on the leaves.
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