General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Cactus/Succulent
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Leaves: Evergreen
Fruit: Dehiscent
Flowers: Showy
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Will Naturalize
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Drought tolerant
Toxicity: Other: The juice from many species of agave can cause acute contact dermatitis that produces reddening and blistering lasting approximately one to two weeks. Itching may recur up to a year later without a visible rash. Dried parts of the plants can be handled sa
Propagation: Seeds: Can handle transplanting
Other info: Sow in shallow pots with a well draining, sterile mix; 50/50 organic/inorganic of coarse perlite, pumice; sphagnum peat or good compost. Avoid manures. Irrigate from below by submerging in water to 1/2 height of pot. Provide bright, indirect light and a
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Offsets
Other: Bulbils
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
Needs excellent drainage in pots
Miscellaneous: Tolerates poor soil
With thorns/spines/prickles/teeth
Awards and Recognitions: RHS AGM
Conservation status: Least Concern (LC)

Conservation status:
Conservation status: Least Concern
Image
Common names
  • Hedgehog Agave
  • Gallinitas
  • Rabo de Leon
  • Needle-leaf Agave
  • Maguey
  • Century Plant

Photo Gallery
Location: Oaxaca
Date: 2022-11-30
Location: Puebla
Date: 2022-12-02
Location: Oaxaca
Date: 2022-11-30
Location: Baja California
Date: 2018-06-02
Axillary branching after flowering
Location: Baja California
Date: 2023-11-24
Location: Puebla
Date: 2022-12-02
Purple clone
Location: Baja California
Date: 2023-08-21
Anthers before and after dehiscence
Location: Cowell's garden centre, Newcastle UK
Date: 2018-08-23
Location: South Jordan, Utah, United States
Date: 2018-10-24
Location: Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory, Baltimore, Maryland
Date: 2017-02-01
Location: Puebla 
Date: 2022-12-01
Location: Puebla
Date: 2022-12-01
Location: Puebla
Date: 2022-12-02
Old plant with small rosettes
Location: Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona
Date: 2015-11-17
Location: Baja California
Date: 2017-10-12
Shortly after amputation (note 6 legged visitors)
Location: Puebla
Date: 2022-12-02
Purple clone
Location: Baja California
Date: 2023-08-31
Location: Cowell's garden centre, Newcastle UK
Date: 2018-08-23
Location: Oaxaca
Date: 2022-11-30
Spent blooms
Location: Puebla
Date: 2022-12-03
Location: Botanic Garden La Concepcion Malaga
Date: 2017-05-16

Photo courtesy of Annie's Annuals and Perennials
Location: Osaka Prefectural Flower Garden, Osaka, Japan
Date: November 12, 2010
Photo by KENPEI

Date: 2012-07-04
Young plant, has not begin to produce offshoots.
  • Uploaded by pod
This plant is tagged in:
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Comments:
  • Posted by Baja_Costero (Baja California - Zone 11b) on Dec 24, 2018 11:03 PM concerning plant:
    Symmetrical green agave with many straight, narrow leaves. Often with reddish highlights (seemingly stress related and reversible). Unbranched inflorescences with greenish petals and reddish purple stamens. May form axillary branches after flowering, thus not monocarpic, unlike most agaves. Typically grows in clusters over time.

    Limited to the Tehuacán valley (Puebla, Oaxaca) in south-central Mexico. Apparently not consumed by livestock. Easily confused with A. striata (from the Chihuahuan Desert much further north in Mexico), another plant with many narrow leaves which also branches after flowering, and can form spiny clusters. A. striata is much more cold tolerant than A. stricta. The two plants are best distinguished based on floral features.

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