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  • Agave americana "swan song"

Agave americana "swan song"

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

A section of glass was removed so the over-30-feet flower stalk of the Agave americana could pass through the roof of the Jordan Hall greenhouse at Indiana University Bloomington in summer 2019.
A sheet of glass was removed from the Jordan Hall greenhouse roof to allow the century plant’s 30-foot flower stalk to pass through. Photo by James Brosher

Our large century plant (Agave americana) in the Jordan Hall greenhouse has bloomed and died. A species that blooms once and then dies is referred to as monocarpic. Our plant was estimated to have been over 50 years old and had been the focal point in the cactus/succulent room for many years. Although it’s nicknamed the century plant, the longevity of A. americana is typically 30 years as opposed to 100 years as the name suggests.

In March 2019 the plant began sending up its impressive flower stalk—which looked like a giant spear of asparagus. A. americana is a member of the Asparagaceae family.

Century plant (Agave americana) in the Jordan Hall greenhouse at Indiana University Bloomington in 2016.
Although the typical age is 30 years, our Agave americana shown in this 2016 photo was over 50 years old when it produced its flower stalk in 2019. Photo by Terri Greene

The stalk grew to a height of at least 30 feet (which required removing a section of glass to let the stalk pass through the roof), producing horizontal branching near its top. Greenish-yellow flowers 3 to 4 inches in length bloomed in panicles (loosely branched clusters of flowers) at the branch ends. After pollination occurs in the wild, the plant begins to produce seeds and forms plant shoots at its base. After flowering, the main plant will die, leaving the plants that formed around its base to replace it until they mature and the process repeats itself.

Flower stalk of the Agave americana with lateral branches; the yellowish flowers on the branches are beginning to open.
Close-up of Agave americana yellow blooms.
The flowers had begun to open by June 26, 2019. Photos by Roger Hangarter

Our plant’s flower stalk was discovered bent over onto the greenhouse roof on July 22, 2019—most likely due to the previous night’s storm and the stalk weakening as the plant died. Greenhouse staff left the stalk on the roof to see whether some of the flowers would set seed.

The stalk and plant were removed on November 11, 2019. Greenhouse staff replaced the old plant with one of its shoots that had been divided from the parent plant and placed in a separate pot more than 16 years ago.

Some of the seeds were planted. A. americana is a chiropterophilous plant. Chiropterophilous means “bat loving” (derived from Chiroptera, the name of the scientific order to which bats belong). In its native habitat of Mexico and the southwestern U.S., the A. americana’s blooms are mainly pollinated by bats. Because only insectivorous bats live in Indiana, we were unsure whether the seeds would be fertile. Several of the seeds, however, sprouted; it appeared that insects seen around the blooms were able to pollinate them.

Agave americana seedling.
A. americana seedling, November 25, 2019. Photo by Terri Greene

Visit the Jordan Hall greenhouse website to view additional images and learn more about our Agave americana.

More about Agave americana

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