Agave Encyclopedia

A medium agave about 1 m across with stiff, pale green to green leaves and grey teeth. The epithet ('obscure') refers to its dull reddish flowers. Many plants sold under the name are said to be A. horrida subsp. perotensis.

An agave described as a separate species in 2019, based on plants long cultivated under the name Titanota. Wild power from harsh Mexican habitat. Recently reclassified.

A selection with broad, very short grey-green leaves fringed with countless long, narrow, wavy teeth like eyelashes. Selected by a US nursery from an FO-076 seedling and released in 2010, it is formally a cultivar of Agave oteroi.

A variegated whale's tongue agave: broad blue leaves bordered by a very wide creamy-yellow edge. A rare clone propagated from a plant found in the mountains of northern Mexico.

An agave from the Parras region of Coahuila, Mexico. Forms a near-spherical beautiful rosette with serrated leaf margins. Popular with collectors; relatively slow growing.

A garden-selected cultivar of Agave parrasana with exceptionally spherical rosette formation. Rounder than standard Parrasana; its near-perfect globe form is highly valued by collectors.

The variegated form of Kisshoten (Agave parryi var. huachucensis): the same short, broad grey leaves, stout brown spines and rounded rosette, with variegation that differs from plant to plant.

A beautiful agave from Sonora, Mexico. Attractive contrast between smooth green leaves and black spines.

Also known as Kisshoukan in Japanese. Beautiful contrast of rounded leaves and red spines. Compact and suited for pots.

A dwarf 'raijin'-type agave whose short, thick leaves pack into a rosette only about 15 cm tall and 20 cm across. Teeth are modest, and offsets arise from the leaf bases to form small clumps.

The collective name for variegated Ouhi Raijin. Plants are sold by pattern and colour, such as white centre-stripe, yellow centre-stripe or cream edge, on the same small, tight rosette.

A sport of white-edged Kissho Kan that arose at Soda Nursery in Aichi, Japan. Glossy leaves carry a vivid cream edge, showier than Kissho Kan Nishiki but a little less tolerant of heat and cold.

An agave from southern California to Baja California. Native to coastal rocky areas with notable salt tolerance. Broad green leaves with reddish spines make it highly ornamental.

The largest of the three subspecies of Agave shrevei, forming handsome rosettes of blue-grey leaves. It grows where Chihuahua, Sonora and Sinaloa meet in the Sierra Madre Occidental of north-western Mexico.

Native to Baja California. Numerous subspecies offer rich variation in leaf color and form — from blue-white to gray and green. Extremely drought tolerant.

The mid-sized agave that set off the current agave boom. It stays a manageable size in pots, with white marginal teeth and thick leaves. Provenance-based selections circulate under names such as 'Hakugei' and 'Himeganryu'.

A Taiwan-raised titanota selection with short, pale blue-white leaves and large white teeth. Its giveaway is the downward-pointing secondary teeth, larger than the main ones, a trait shared with 'Tarantula' and 'Demon Dragon'.

A titanota selection with large leaves bearing long, white, writhing teeth, sometimes called the finest of the named selections. 'Akuma-kun', 'Bakemono' and 'Super Titanota' are names for the same plant.

A compact titanota with thick, pale bluish-grey leaves and near-black teeth, selected by Kelly Griffin in the US from seed collected in Oaxaca. Often abbreviated to 'B&B'.

A titanota selection with broad leaves, moderately narrow tooth bands and a long, sharp tip spine: leaf width close to Juggernaut, with a more aggressive silhouette.

A Taiwan-raised titanota selection with short, thick leaves in a rounded rosette. Often mistaken for Hakugei with wet, darkened spines, but its form marks it as a separate line, closer to 'Azarashi' or 'Black and Blue'.

A titanota selection with broad, short, bright blue-grey leaves packed into a ball and many long, pure-white teeth that twist wildly. The waviness shows even on two-leaf pups.