A friend gave this plant to me without identification. After several months in my garden, it produced an 8 ft. flower stalk, but I still can't identify it. I'm pretty sure it's an Agave. A Google search found two or three Agaves with similar blossoms but the leaves of those specimens are more rigid and upright, while my plant has floppy leaves.

It's probably monocarpic, and ready to provide a gift of lots of bulbils. I'd like to know its name before encouraging the bulbils.

I was curious so I looked around a bit. I'm thinking it may be a hybrid. The tightly held flowers on the erect inflorescence don't seem to be typical of the soft leaved Agave. I'm not an expert on the genus, just looking on Google.

The closest inflorescence I could find was A. filifera but the leaves are more like A. vilmoriniana.

I don't know much about Agave, but this one looks similar.



https://www.anniesannuals.com/...
https://davesgarden.com/guides...

Any chance of an ID, @mcvansoest ?

I think @Danita has ID'd the plant. Looking great!

Thanks, Danita!
The websites you listed have descriptions and images exactly like my specimen. I'm pleased to have a name for this gift plant.

I'd like to know how you identified this plant. Did you recognize it from prior experience? Did you identify it through an Internet search? I write a weekly gardening column for local newspapers, and I'm working on an article about plant identification. This NGA forum is one of my go-to favorites, but this plant stumped several friends who are knowledgeable about succulent plants, so I am curious about your ID strategy.

Btw, both sites indicate that it's rare, so, for a plant nerd, rare is lots better than common.
Annie's Annuals says "The main rosette does NOT DIE after flowering and continues to make new tightly held rosettes that continue to bloom thereafter." This suggests that it is not monocarpic, but that would make it an unusual Agave. Wikipedia says,"...a small number of Agave species are polycarpic." so time will tell.

I cannot speak for Danita, but there are only so many red flowered agaves that are also racemose with regards to their inflorescence that look like your plant. While not common, there are several (online) nurseries in the US who have carried or are carrying this plant, so it is obtainable.

As to it being monocarpic, as I am sure you know, many Agaves are very very good at asexual propagation ie. offsetting, so while after flowering the rosette that flowered may die (I do not know for this plant, since it is one that does not like the Phoenix area heat much - but I have seen it listed as monocarpic), the fact that many offsets will continue on living technically means the whole of the plant does not in fact die after flowering. However, given that in case of most Agaves the offsets tend to form their own complete plant most are still considered monocarpic, because in most the rosette that flowered will die, unlike some other plants where the growth point that flowered stops growing, but is replaced by new growth points on the same plant. To my eye your plant does not look much like it is in the process of giving the ghost, which is often an early indicator of an Agave getting ready to flower: its outer leaves start to die off faster than usual, so it may indeed be polycarpic, but sometimes the conditions allow the Agave to go on clinging to life for even years after flowering, happily offsetting, but never really showing any growth on the rosette that flowered, which over time will slowly wither away.