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Agave - A succulent plant |
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Order: Asparagales
Family: Agavaceae
Genus: Agave Agave is a succulent plant. They have a large rosette of thick fleshy leaves, each ending generally in a sharp point and with a spiny margin; the stout stem is usually short, their leaves apparently springing from the root. Agave species are popular ornamental plants. Each rosette is monocarpic and grows slowly to flower only once. During flowering, a tall stem or "mast" grows from the center of the leaf rosette and bears a large number of shortly tubular flowers. After development of fruit, the original plant dies, but suckers are frequently produced from the base of the stem, which become new plants. Agave species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species. |
