Features:
Common name: Agave underwoodii
Family: Agavaceae
Origin: Mexico
Height at maturity: 1 to 2 meters
Hardiness: -5°C
Exposure: sunny
Plant type: succulent
Vegetation: perennial
Foliage: evergreen
Flowering: summer
Flower color: golden yellow
Type of soil: sandy and very draining
Watering: light to normal
Use: rock garden, pot or container
Diseases and insect pests: scale insects
Toxicity: not determined
Storage of seeds: 2 years in a dry place away from light at 3/4°C (refrigerator)
Description:
This agave is one of the giant agaves. It forms a collar of leaves measuring between one and two meters long and between thirty and forty centimeters wide. The edge of the leaves is straight, a little concave and is dotted with 5 millimeter needles at the edge.
The inflorescence is also surprising. A stem up to 8 meters high appears and is covered with a multitude of flowers measuring 6 centimeters in diameter, with a golden yellow color. Flowering occurs after several years.
A rare plant in the wild, it is even more so in cultivation. It requires little maintenance but it is essential to give it the substrate that suits it, sandy and very draining. It can resist to -5°C but for short periods and outside too humid environment.
Cultivable in the ground in the Mediterranean regions, it will take on its full extent. Pot culture is also possible but its development will be reduced as the pot is small.
