Parry's Agave

Another cool plant of southern New Mexico is Parry's Agave, Agave parryi. Charles Christopher Parry, a naturalist and explorer of the nineteenth century, has quite a large number of species named after him. As wildflower season approaches, my blog will likely become full of species with the name parryi.

This species grows on dry, rocky slopes in New Mexico, Arizona, and west Texas between 4500 and 8000 feet.  It can sometimes be called mescal agave or century plant. Naturesongs.com explains the latter name.  "Century Plants bloom only once in their life, the blooming spike is so large and grows so fast that it saps all the resources of the plant, which then dies, leaving a tall wooden seed stalk. The plant is called the 'century plant' because of this 'once a century' bloom (actually the plant lives an average of 25 years)."  The inflorescense or flower stalk with its yellow flowers can grow as tall as 20 feet high!

According to wikipedia, "It is a common misconception that agaves are cacti. They are not related to cacti, nor are they closely related to aloe whose leaves are similar in appearance."  I must admit that I thought this agave was a kind of cactus when I saw its dark, spiny points in the desert.  It is, in fact, more closely related to yuccas than cacti.