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by DENNIS FOX
(PISMO BEACH)

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Cactus looking plant that grows to over 23 feet and blooms at the top. Very cool plant that has me thinking. Please help with an answer.Thanks

Drought Smart Plants reply: Hi Dennis, I didn’t even have to look at the picture to tell you what this is.

There is only one plant that I can think of that will put out a bloom stalk over 20′ tall.

I saw a picture of an Agave in bloom in a botanical garden, and they had to take some of the panes of glass out of the roof to let it go through and finish flowering.

I have no idea if it actually completed its task, or got too cold to continue.

These are really tough desert plants, and they only bloom once.

This means they are ‘monocarpic’ and the rosette dies after flowering.

Hopefully, the millions of insects and hummingbirds attracted to the flowers will have pollinated them and it will produce some seeds (in ideal conditions).

They do have a backup system, of producing ‘pups’ around the base of the mother rosette, which eventually take over after she is gone.

In this way, some Agave clumps are huge, and incredibly dangerous, as each leaf has a sharp spine at it’s point.

Happy Succulent Gardening!
Jacki

Comments for a very cool succulent that grows to over 23 feet

May 02, 2012

Thanks for the quick reply
by: DENNIS FOX

You sound like an expert. This is just an such a sight. I’m amazed it only get’s one shot. So it’s an Agave? Any extra technical info/

Thanks again
Dennis

No expert – where I live it’s too cold for these guys to get big enough to bloom! These are pretty much a warm desert plant, although they do withstand a bit of frost. They can take over 30 years to bloom, which gives rise to their other name of Century Plant.

Agave is what they make Tequila out of – is that technical enough for you? I don’t recommend trying it though!

Jacki


Jun 10, 2019

Spear growing like mad!
by: BEVERLY SANTICOLA

I posted a photo on my Facebook page. I’d be curious to learn more about this phenomenon with my cactus.