Family: Asparagaceae
Common name: Agave, Century plant, American aloe, Flowering aloe, Spiked aloe, Kamal cactus, Mexican soap plant, Spreading century plant, Azabara, Maguey, Pita, Pitaco
Century plant is a large, majestic succulent that looks like a sculpture with its large, bluish-green leaves and amazing spread of foliage. Though they are called Century plants, they do not live for 100 years; the average life span is 20-30 years.
Plant Characteristics
Century plants grow to a height of about 1.5 meters with leaves that grow in a beautiful, rosette shape from the ground. Stem is almost non-existent like most Agave plants, and the leaves grow directly from a central core that’s right above the roots.
Once the plant is mature and ready to flower, the stem can extend as a long stalk, like an electric post, producing large bunches of flowers.
Leaves are the most distinctive feature of the Century plant – long, pointed, fleshy, bluish-green leaves with prickly thorns along the margins and a sharp, pointy tip.
The leaves can grow up to 1.5 meters, which is the actual height of the plant. They have a thick, leathery appearance and a waxy coating that helps prevent water loss from the surface.
The thorns can be very prickly, and the tip of the leaf can make a deep wound if you are not careful enough. So handle them with care!
Flowering in Century plant is a mega event that only happens after the plant is 20-30 years old, after which the plant dies. The flowers are held on tall flowering stalks that can grow 8-10 meters tall, with beautiful, fluffy, bright yellow flowers.
The flowers are nothing short of spectacular, one of the tallest flowers in the plant kingdom. Each flower is 3-5 cm long with a cluster a stamens at the center, which gives them a pom-pom like appearance.
Century plant flowers grow in multiple layers from the flowering stalks, and look like a multi-storey apartment full of nectar, attracting bees and other insect pollinators in plenty.
After flowering, Century plants produce small, rounded fruits that are initially green and elongated, containing seeds. While the plant produces some seeds, they are mostly propagated through pups or small plantlets that grow around the parent plant.
Gardening Tips
Century plants need good sunlight and well-drained soil. Since they are succulents that love growing in rocky, desert-like conditions, they do not need regular watering. In fact, there is more danger from overwatering than underwatering.
These plants can go through the year without any additional watering, if it is growing in areas that get good rainfall. They can tolerate some amount of cold weather, but should be moved indoors during extreme frost.
Pruning is not usually needed, but the lowermost dead leaves can be removed occasionally to keep the plant beautiful. Once the plant flowers, the parent plant will die, in which case, the dried plant will have to be removed carefully.
Since Century plants have many thorns on the leaves, they should be handled very carefully, wearing thick plastic gloves, or with implements.
While planting Century plants in home gardens or landscaped areas, make sure they have enough space to grow and spread their large leaves.
Since the leaves have prickly thorns on the margins, they should be kept away from walkways or areas where people are likely to frequent.
Uses of Century plants
The sap of these plants has many medicinal uses in the treatment of cuts, wounds, inflammations, fever, indigestion, constipation, jaundice, dysentery, bacterial infections, tooth pain, scurvy, and a range of other common ailments.
When the Century plant blooms, the sap produced inside the flowering stems, a sweet nectar-like liquid, is extracted by boring a hole in the stem. This liquid is then used to produce an alcoholic drink called pulque.
The core or heart of the Century plant and other Agaves are distilled to produce the popular alcoholic drink called mezcal. Tequila is a kind of mezcal produced from a specific agave plant called Blue agave or Agave tequilana.
This core is also baked or cooked and eaten. It is nutritious, but quite fibrous to eat. The entire plant has to be dug up and cut open to remove this core. Flowering stalks and buds are also sometimes cooked and eaten.
But many parts of the plant are toxic, and hence you should not use any part of the plant as food or medicine without expert advice.
Propagation
Propagation is through seeds or pups that grow around the parent plant.
Since Century plants only flower once in their lifetime, propagation through seeds is slow and inefficient.
Most parent plants produce small pups or plantlets around them, which can be removed carefully and transplanted to new locations.
Photographed at: GKVK University of Agriculture, Bangalore
