Agave potatorum 'Kisshoukan' variegated

Kissho Kan Nishiki is the edged form of 'Kissho Kan', an agave long grown in Japan. Kissho Kan is usually attributed to A. potatorum, but a Japanese gardening encyclopedia calls its parent species unknown and says it arrived in Japan mixed in with imports of Kisshoten (A. parryi var. huachucensis). A US grower lists it under potatorum as a probable Japanese cultivar, while a US specialist nursery suspects an old Mexican hybrid; unlike solitary potatorum it clusters, which has led some to link it to A. parryi or A. isthmensis. A US grower describes a small, slow plant about 30 cm tall and 45 cm wide with short grey leaves streaked pale yellow along the margins and red spines, forming a hemispherical rosette. A US specialist nursery notes that the spines emerge yellow and age through light brown to dark cinnamon. Note that in the US this variegated plant is sold as 'Kissho Kan' and the green one as 'Kichiokan', the reverse of Japanese usage. Its green parent is Kissho Kan. It is widespread in Japan and turns up even at home centres.

The Agave potatorum 'Kisshoukan' variegated grows to About 30 cm tall and 45 cm wide.

Light feeder; a little slow-release fertiliser in the growing season is enough