Common name: Century Plant
Agave americana L. APNI* 
Description: Giant rosette plant with rosette 1–2 m high and 2–4 m diam.; stem very short, often freely suckering to form a large clump.
Leaves ± narrow-lanceolate, 1–2 m long, 15–25 cm wide, apex acute with terminal spine 3–5 cm long, margins coarsely toothed with teeth to 1 cm long; lamina succulent, bluish grey to light green.
Scape robust, 2–5 m high; panicle 1–3 m high, many-flowered, flowers on umbellate branches; pedicels 2–4 cm long. Flowers 7–10 cm long, yellow. Tepals fused basally into a tube 1–2 cm long; free segments unequal, 2–3.5 cm long. Stamens 6–10 cm long.
Capsule oblong, 4–6 cm long; seeds black.
Flowering: summer–autumn.
Distribution and occurrence: Cultivated, especially in inland districts and occasionally naturalized around old habitations and along roadsides; north from Mudgee and west from Murrurundi district. Native of Mexico. Two varieties are sometimes distinguished.
NSW subdivisions: *CC, *NT, *NWS, *CWS, *NWP, *ST, *LHI
Other Australian states: *Qld *S.A.
Text by G. J. Harden
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 4 (1993)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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