Small blue-green agave from the area right around the intersection between California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. The northernmost of the agaves and one of the most cold hardy. Rosettes may be green, gray-green, blue-green or blue-gray and usually grow to 10-16 inches wide, typically clumping over time. Leaves have a sharp terminal spine but teeth may be variable, and some clones are much more attractive than others. This species encompasses a range of named varieties and subspecies, varying in habit, color, spines, and inflorescence. One definitive feature of utahensis is that its teeth have brown rings around the bases, a bit like cerulata.

Kaibab Agave (Agave utahensis subsp. kaibabensis) from the Kaibab Plateau of northern Arizona near the Grand Canyon is larger, greener and solitary, whereas Utah Agave (Agave utahensis subsp. utahensis) offsets. The type subspecies includes Nevada Agave (Agave utahensis var. nevadensis), from 4000-6000 feet in California and Nevada, which is smaller, with larger teeth and a longer spine (brown or whitish) in proportion; and Ivory-Spined Agave (Agave utahensis var. eborispina), from the northwestern part of the species' range in California and Nevada, with very attractive long ivory spines and teeth.

This plant is reputed to be cold hardy to zone 6a or even 5a if kept dry during winter, but is pretty much guaranteed to crash if it gets wet and cold. It requires strong light for good form in cultivation and makes an excellent container plant, given excellent drainage. Plants in cultivation may reach a much larger size than their depauperate kin in habitat.

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