Agave americana L.
Century plant (Agave americana) is a long-lived, evergreen succulent that is native to Mexico. It was introduced to New Zealand as a garden ornamental and was first recorded in the wild (naturalised) in 1869. The plant forms a large rosette of thick, fleshy blue-grey leaves with sharp marginal teeth and a stout terminal spine. Mature plants produce a flowering stalk up to several metres tall bearing numerous yellow-green flowers, which develop into capsules containing many black seeds. It tolerates drought, poor soils, wind and salt. It reproduces by seed and vegetatively from suckers that develop around the base of the parent plant. Seeds are dispersed by wind. Suckers are spread by soil movement, dumped garden waste and other human activities.
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