Re: furcraea flowering (agave relation)
At 04:11 PM 10/15/99 +1000, Gay Klok wrote:
>Although called Century, it is only 40-45 years you will have to wait.
>One flowered in our Tasmanian Botanical Gardens this year which was a
>mere 43 years old
>Gay Klok Tasmania
>
>Kay Dreher wrote:
>> Yes, the inflorescence is spectacular. It looks pretty much like a
>> 20-foot (6 meters) tall asparagus spear, and then it flowers. The
>> main plant can take years to die afterward, getting flabbier all
>> the time.
>> Kay Dreher
>> Berkeley, California
Currently, a Furcraea foetida I planted at my son's school is flowering.
This is a soft-leaved, unarmed, agave relative that still get quite large.
The bright green leaves are very slender and straight, to about 6ft long,
making a rosette perhaps 6ft high and twice as wide over time. The
spike elongates very quickly and branches out much more delicately that
the stubby Agave americanas, with lots of horizontal laterals. From
these will hang numerous pendant, waxy, creamy-white bell-like flowers
(not unlike yuccas) in open airy arrangement. A more light and delicate
effect overall. Last year, the plant at my home was killed in the freezes
when just about to open flowers - dissappointing. This plant seems to be
flowering a bit earlier that that plant, but it will no doubt take some
time to reach full flowering (likely December/January). Last year's
plant reached 30ft in height - this year's plant is in more sun and
wind - we'll see how tall it becomes.
When flowering is done, this species produces copious amounts of small
bulbils all over the flowering branches. These root easily and grow
new plants quickly. All of mine were from a single harvest several
years ago. I still have a few in pots which are quite small. Those
which were planted in the ground reached flowering size in a mere 2-3
years. This species doesn't always die completely after flowering - it
can resprout from the base, especially if the flower spike is cut early.
I love the effect that this type of plant has on people. They don't
even notice it most of the time, and then suddenly they do, usually
followed by 'Will you look at that!', or 'Where did that come from!?'.
The impressive vertical height gets it noticed. My plant at home
still have it flower spike standing (Hey!, I've been busy!), and is in
contant use by our local humming birds and other species. People who
walk by the front of the house on their walks still stop and explain
to their friends what is was like then it was first elongating and
starting to flower! It almost seems a shame to cut it down! The year
before, our Echium pininnana was the focal point and some seemed very
dissapointed when we finally cut the dead stalk out!
Sean O.
Sean A. O'Hara sean.ohara@groupmail.com
h o r t u l u s a p t u s 710 Jean Street
'a garden suited to its purpose' Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ask me about the worldwide Mediterranean gardening discussion group
