Agave parviflora

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Agave parviflora
Agave parviflora 1.jpg
Status TNC G3.svg
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Agavoideae
Genus: Agave
Species:
A. parviflora
Binomial name
Agave parviflora

Agave parviflora is a species of succulent perennial flowering plant in the asparagus family, known by the common names Santa Cruz striped agave, smallflower century plant, and small-flower agave. It is native to Arizona in the United States and Sonora in Mexico. [2]

Contents

Description

Osaka Prefectural Flower Garden, Osaka, Japan Agave parviflora 5.jpg
Osaka Prefectural Flower Garden, Osaka, Japan

The specific epithet parviflora means "small-flowered". [3]

This agave produces a small rosette up to 25 cm (10 in) tall by 20 cm (8 in) wide. The succulent leaves are up to 20 cm (8 in) long and are a waxy dark green with white markings. The leaf margins have peeling fibers. The plant produces an inflorescence 1–2 m (3–7 ft)tall with cream or pale yellow flowers in summer. [4] The flowers are pollinated by bees such as bumblebees. [2] In bloom, hummingbirds are attracted by this agave. [5] It lives between 10-15 years before flowering. [6] When it flowers, it grows an up to 7 feet tall spike-like stalk with light yellow or cream colored flowers. The flowers come in groups of 1-4 flowers, mostly in spring. After blooming, the agave dies. [7] The fruit is small ovoid capsules that is between 6-10 millimeters in diameter. The seeds are wedge shaped and half round. [8] The plant has slow to moderate growth. The leaves are strongly whorled and grow tightly around ramets. The leaves are also narrow and stiff and taper to a sharp point. The texture is medium coarse. If the roots are chronically damp, A. parviflora might get Black root rot ( Thielaviopsis basicola ). [9]

Subspecies of the plant include ssp. parviflora [10] and ssp. densiflora. [11]

Distribution and Habitat

It grows in semi-desert grasslands, oak woodlands, and other dry and rocky places. [9] It is a rare species that has limited distribution in Arizona and parts of Northern Mexico. The state of Arizona considers Agave parviflora as endangered and protects it as highly safeguarded. The US Forest Service designated it as a Sensitive Species. Since this species is federally endangered, it is illegal to collect this plant. [6] It commonly grows at elevations between 3,000 to 5,000 feet (900 to 1,520 m). [7]

Cultivation

This species is the smallest agave in Arizona and is sought by collectors. For this reason the species has declined in its native habitat. There are only about two dozen natural populations in Arizona. Other threats to the species include road construction and mining. [2] However, because the population appears to be stable and it grows in several protected areas, it is not considered by the IUCN to be threatened. [1]

The plant is valued in cultivation and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [12] [13]

Uses

The leaves and the heart of the plant are baked and eaten. This species is the sweetest and most edible of Agave . However, it is commonly not eaten as it is also the smallest of its genus. It is used to make the distilled liquor Mezcal. Mezcal can be made out of any Agave species, although around 7 species are the most common and favorited. [14]

Related Research Articles

<i>Pinus parviflora</i> Species of conifer

Pinus parviflora, also known as five-needle pine, Ulleungdo white pine, or Japanese white pine, is a pine in the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, native to Korea and Japan.

<i>Agave americana</i> Species of flowering plant

Agave americana, commonly known as the century plant, maguey, or American aloe, is a flowering plant species belonging to the family Asparagaceae. It is native to Mexico and the United States, specifically Texas. This plant is widely cultivated worldwide for its ornamental value and has become naturalized in various regions, including Southern California, the West Indies, South America, the Mediterranean Basin, Africa, the Canary Islands, India, China, Thailand, and Australia.

<i>Agave parryi</i> Species of flowering plant

Agave parryi, known as Parry's agave or mescal agave, is a flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. It is a slow-growing succulent perennial native to Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico.

<i>Agave attenuata</i> Species of flowering plant

Agave attenuata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, commonly known as the foxtail or lion's tail. The name swan's neck agave refers to its development of a curved inflorescence, unusual among agaves. Native to the plateaux of central west Mexico, as one of the unarmed agaves, it is popular as an ornamental plant in gardens in many other places with subtropical and warm climates.

<i>Dasylirion wheeleri</i> Species of flowering plant

Dasylirion wheeleri is a species of flowering plant in the asparagus family (Asparagaceae), native to arid environments of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.

<i>Agave victoriae-reginae</i> Species of flowering plant

Agave victoriae-reginae, the Queen Victoria agave or royal agave, is a small species of succulent flowering perennial plant, noted for its streaks of white on sculptured geometrical leaves, and popular as an ornamental.

<i>Adenium obesum</i> Species of plant

Adenium obesum, more commonly known as a desert rose, is a poisonous species of flowering plant belonging to the tribe Nerieae of the subfamily Apocynoideae of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It is native to the Sahel regions south of the Sahara, tropical and subtropical eastern and southern Africa and also the Arabian Peninsula. Other names for the flower include Sabi star, kudu, mock azalea, and impala lily. Adenium obesum is a popular houseplant and bonsai in temperate regions.

<i>Agave shawii</i> Species of succulent plant from North America

Agave shawii is a species of monocarpic succulent plant in the genus Agave, commonly known as Shaw's agave. It is a rosette-forming plant characterized by glossy, green leaves with toothed margins. After several years of slow growth, the plant puts all of its resources to produce a towering stalk of flowers, and then dies. The death of the flowering rosette is compensated by the growth of numerous clonal pups. This species is segregated into two subspecies, one native to the coast of southwestern California and northwestern Baja California, known commonly as the coast agave, and another native to the Baja California desert, known as the Goldman agave.

<i>Hesperaloe parviflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Hesperaloe parviflora, also known as red yucca, hummingbird yucca, redflower false yucca and samandoque, is a plant that is native to Chihuahuan desert of west Texas east and south into central and south Texas and northeastern Mexico around Coahuila.

<i>Frithia pulchra</i> Species of succulent

Frithia pulchra, the fairy elephant's feet, is a species of flowering plant in the fig‑marigold family Aizoaceae, endemic to Gauteng Province, South Africa. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland with high summer rainfall. A tiny stemless succulent growing to just 10 cm (3.9 in) tall and 20 cm (7.9 in) broad, it has bulbous oblong leaves with leaf windows at the tip; and magenta and white daisy-like flowers in winter. During periods of drought it has the ability to shrink beneath the soil surface, thus avoiding excessive desiccation, but making it extremely difficult to find.

<i>Agave</i> Genus of flowering plants closely related to yucca

Agave is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some Agave species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Agave now includes species formerly placed in a number of other genera, such as Manfreda, ×Mangave, Polianthes and Prochnyanthes.

<i>Agave filifera</i> Species of flowering plant

Agave filifera, the thread agave, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Central Mexico from Querétaro to Mexico State. It is a small or medium-sized succulent plant that forms stemless rosette up to 3 feet (91 cm) across and up to 2 feet (61 cm) tall. The leaves are dark green to a bronzish-green in color and have very ornamental white bud imprints. The flower stalk is up to 11.5 feet (3.5 m) tall and is densely loaded with yellowish-green to dark purple flowers up to 2 inches (5.1 cm) long. Flowers appear in autumn and winter.

<i>Agave stricta</i> Species of flowering plant

Agave stricta, the hedgehog agave, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Puebla and Oaxaca in Southern Mexico. Growing to 50 cm (20 in) tall, it is an evergreen succulent with rosettes of narrow spiny leaves producing erect racemes, 2 m (7 ft) long, of reddish purple flowers in summer. The foliage may develop a red tinge in the summer. The plant is also known to produce pincushion-like offsets as it grows.

<i>Agave macroacantha</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Agave palmeri</i> Species of flowering plant

Agave palmeri is an especially large member of the genus Agave, in the family Asparagaceae.

<i>Agave polianthiflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Agave polianthiflora is a relatively small member of the genus Agave, in the subfamily Agavoideae, endemic to northern Mexico.

<i>Agave potatorum</i> Species of flowering plant

Agave potatorum, the Verschaffelt agave, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. A smallish and attractive succulent perennial, it is native to partial desert areas of Mexico from Puebla south to Oaxaca.

<i>Kalanchoe pumila</i> Species of plant

Kalanchoe pumila, the flower dust plant, is a species of flowering plant in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae, native to Madagascar. Growing to 20 cm (8 in) tall and 45 cm (18 in) wide, it is a spreading, dwarf succulent subshrub with arching stems of frosted leaves, and clusters of purple-veined pink flowers in spring. As the minimum temperature for cultivation is 12 °C (54 °F), in temperate regions it is grown under glass as a houseplant.

<i>Agave titanota</i> Species of flowering plant

Agave titanota, the chalk agave, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. It is a medium-sized evergreen succulent perennial native to Oaxaca, Mexico. It often reaches 1-2 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide.

<i>Conophytum obcordellum</i> Species of succulent

Conophytum obcordellum is a species of flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae, native to the Western Cape of South Africa. It is a small clump-forming succulent, growing to 10 cm tall and 1 m broad, forming glossy grey pebble-shaped growths, heavily marked with dots and lines. Daisy-like, silky white or pink night-scented flowers are borne on mature plants in spring.

References

  1. 1 2 Hodgson, W.; Puente, R.; Salywon, A. (2020). "Agave parviflora". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T115689669A116354298. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T115689669A116354298.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Center for Plant Conservation - Saving Endangered Plants". Center for Plant Conservation. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  3. Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. p. 224. ISBN   9781845337315.
  4. RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN   978-1405332965.
  5. "Search Tree Collections". apps.cals.arizona.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  6. 1 2 "Smallflower Century Plant". www.fs.usda.gov. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  7. 1 2 WoS (2017-07-02). "Agave parviflora (Smallflower Century Plant)". World of Succulents. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  8. "Agave parviflora". www.llifle.com. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  9. 1 2 "Scientific: Agave parviflora (Synonyms: Agave parviflora ssp. parviflora, Agave hartmanii)". www.public.asu.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  10. Agave parviflora. Flora of North America.
  11. Starr, G. and T. R. Van Devender. (2011). Agave parviflora subspecies densiflora. A newly found treasure from the Sierra Madre in Eastern Sonora, Mexico. [ permanent dead link ]Cact Succ J (US) 83(5) 224-31.
  12. "RHS Plant Selector - Agave parviflora" . Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  13. "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). www.rhs.org. Royal Horticultural Society. November 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  14. "Agave parviflora - Useful Temperate Plants". temperate.theferns.info. Retrieved 2023-08-21.