Agave bracteosa
Encyclopedia
Agave bracteosa is a species of agave
sometimes known as "spider agave".
Small among the agaves, its green succulent leaves are long and lanceolate, 50-70 cm long and 3-5 cm at the base, where they are the widest. They have minute serrations along the margins, no teeth, no spine at the end, and have a tendency to curl somewhat, in a fashion reminiscent of the octopus agave
A. vilmoriniana. The inflorescence spike is also short at 1.2-1.7 meters, and its upper third is densely covered with white or pale yellow flowers. The flowers are distinctive in that tepal
s arise from a disk-shaped receptacle rather than the usual tube. The stamens are quite long.
It is endemic to a small region of the northern Sierra Madre Oriental
of Mexico
, found on cliffs and rocky slopes from 900 to 1,700 meters.
Gentry defines a group "Choritepalae" that includes A. bracteosa along with Agave ellemeetiana and Agave guiengola, and states that the discoid receptacle and unarmed leaves are different enough from other agaves to justify placing A. bracteosa and A. ellemeetiana into a separate genus, but that characteristics of A. guiengola link the group to the rest of Agave.
Agave
Agave is a genus of monocots. The plants are perennial, but each rosette flowers once and then dies ; they are commonly known as the century plant....
sometimes known as "spider agave".
Small among the agaves, its green succulent leaves are long and lanceolate, 50-70 cm long and 3-5 cm at the base, where they are the widest. They have minute serrations along the margins, no teeth, no spine at the end, and have a tendency to curl somewhat, in a fashion reminiscent of the octopus agave
Octopus agave
Agave vilmoriniana, sometimes misspelled vilmoriana, and popularly known as Octopus agave, is a species of agave known for its untoothed arching and twisting leaves....
A. vilmoriniana. The inflorescence spike is also short at 1.2-1.7 meters, and its upper third is densely covered with white or pale yellow flowers. The flowers are distinctive in that tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...
s arise from a disk-shaped receptacle rather than the usual tube. The stamens are quite long.
It is endemic to a small region of the northern Sierra Madre Oriental
Sierra Madre Oriental
The Sierra Madre Oriental is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico.-Setting:Spanning the Sierra Madre Oriental runs from Coahuila south through Nuevo León, southwest Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Hidalgo to northern Puebla, where it joins with the east-west running Eje Volcánico...
of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, found on cliffs and rocky slopes from 900 to 1,700 meters.
Gentry defines a group "Choritepalae" that includes A. bracteosa along with Agave ellemeetiana and Agave guiengola, and states that the discoid receptacle and unarmed leaves are different enough from other agaves to justify placing A. bracteosa and A. ellemeetiana into a separate genus, but that characteristics of A. guiengola link the group to the rest of Agave.