Agave parryi
Common name: 
Parry's Agave
Pronunciation: 
a-GAW-vee PAIR-ree-eye
Family: 
Asparagaceae
Genus: 
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf evergreen rosette-forming succulent, it grows to 2.5 ft tall and 3.5 wide (0.8 x 1 m).  Leaves are grayish-green to blue-sliver, 40 x 12 cm, overlapping, broadly oblong to ovate-linear, with marginal reddish-brown teeth and terminal spines. The flower spike reaches to 3-6 m (10-20 ft) with orange flower buds that open to yellow flowers; blooms in summer.  Fruit (capsule) ovoid or oblong to obovoid, 2.5–5 cm, apex beaked. May take over 10 years before it flowers, and it dies thereafter.
  • The stubby, almost flat-topped rosette is somewhat reminiscent of an artichoke and sometimes referred to as the Artichoke Agave.
  • Full sun to light shade, well-drained (essential), sandy/gritty soil, tolerates dry soils and drought

  • Hardy to USDA Zone (7)8   Note the following from the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG).  "Surprisingly good winter hardiness for this succulent. Plants have reportedly survived winters with temperatures as low as -20F (USDA Zone 5), but cold temperatures should be "dry cold" as opposed to "wet cold".  MBG lists it as hardy to USDA Zone 7.
  • Agave parryi is found in western Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico typically at elevations from 4,000 to 8,000 feet.

  • parryi:  after C.C. Parry (1823-1890) a notable botanist and plant hunter who found and collected new species in the Midwest, the western mountains, the southwest and Mexico.  He collected Agave parryi and found the iconic Colorado spruce, Picea pungens.  Parry’s Peak in Colorado on the Continental Divide is named after him.
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  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • leaves

    leaves