Agaves at the Desert Botanical Garden (M—Z)
Click here to go to part one of this post: agave species A—L.
AGAVE MACROACANTHA
Native to: Central Mexico (Oaxaca, Puebla)
Hardy to: 25°F
AGAVE MAPISAGA
Native to: Central Mexico (Querétaro)
Hardy to: 20°F
Note: Agave mapisaga var. lisa is thought to be largest agave in existence.
AGAVE MCKELVEYANA
Native to: West-central Arizona
Hardy to: -10°F
AGAVE MITIS
Native to: Eastern Mexico (subtropical and tropical)
Hardy to: 20°F
Note: In the 2nd photo you can see how offsets emerge from the crown through axillary branching. This is very unusual in agaves; most suckering types produce offsets from the base.
AGAVE MITIS ‘MULTICOLOR’
Native to: Eastern Mexico (subtropical and tropical)
Hardy to: 20°F
Note: Creamy border. First spotted by Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery at a nursery in Holland and later in Thailand.
AGAVE MORANII
Native to: Western Mexico (Baja California Norte)
Hardy to: 20°F
AGAVE MURPHEYI
Native to: Southern Arizona
Hardy to: 10°F
Note: Found in the wild only at a few archaeological sites of the ancient Hohokam Indians.
AGAVE MURPHEYI ‘ENGARD’
Native to: Southern Arizona
Hardy to: 10°F
Note: This variegated cultivar is named after Rodney Engard, a former director of the Desert Botanical Garden, who first collected it in 1974.
AGAVE NICKELSIAE
Native to: NE Mexico (SE Coahuila)
Hardy to: 10°F
Note: Previously known as Agave fernandi-regis; some taxonomists consider it a subspecies of Agave victoria-reginae.
AGAVE OCAHUI
Native to: NW Mexico (Sonora)
Hardy to: 15°F
AGAVE OVATIFOLIA
Native to: NE Mexico (Nuevo León)
Hardy to: 5°F
AGAVE PARRYI VAR. COUESII
Native to: Central Arizona
Hardy to: 0°F
AGAVE PARRYI VAR. PARRYI
Native to: Arizona, New Mexico, NW Mexico
Hardy to: 10°F or lower, depending on clone
AGAVE PELONA
Native to: Sonora, Mexico (four localities only)
Hardy to: 15°F
AGAVE PHILLIPSIANA
Native to: Arizona (Grand Canyon National Park only; four known localities)
Hardy to: -10°F
Note: Thought by some to be a hybrid between Agave palmeri and Agave americana var.expansa.
AGAVE PROMONTORII
Native to: Western Mexico (Baja California Sur)
Hardy to: 30°F
AGAVE SCHIDIGERA
Native to: West-central Mexico
Hardy to: 20°F
Note: The plant below is a cultivar called ‘Durango Delight’ selected for its symmetrical rosette.
AGAVE SCHOTTI
Native to: Southern Arizona, northern Mexico
Hardy to: -5°F
Note: In the photo below, Agave schotti is the one on the left. On the right is Agave lophantha.
AGAVE SEBASTIANA
Native to: Western Mexico (islands off west coast of Baja California)
Hardy to: 25°F
AGAVE SHAWII
Native to: Western Mexico (Baja California)
Hardy to: 20°F
AGAVE SISALANA
Native to: Southern Mexico
Hardy to: 25°F
AGAVE SISALANA ‘VARIEGATA’
Native to: Southern Mexico
Hardy to: 25°F
AGAVE SOBRIA
Native to: Western Mexico (Baja California Sur)
Hardy to: 20°F
AGAVE STRIATA
Native to: Eastern and central Mexico
Hardy to: 0°F
Note: The plant in the photo below is subspecies falcata.
AGAVE STRICTA
Native to: Central Mexico (Puebla)
Hardy to: 25°F
AGAVE SUBSIMPLEX
Native to: NW Mexico (Sonora)
Hardy to: 20°F
AGAVE TITANOTA
Native to: Central Mexico (Oaxaca)
Hardy to: 25°F
AGAVE TOUMEYANA
Native to: Southern Arizona
Hardy to: 15°F
AGAVE UTAHENSIS
Native to: U.S. (southern Utah, northern Arizona, southern Nevada, southeastern California)
Hardy to: -10°F
Note: The plant in the photos below is var. utahensis.
AGAVE VERDENSIS
Native to: Central Arizona (Verde Valley)
Hardy to: 10°F or less
Note: This is a recently discovered central Arizona species. See here for more info.
AGAVE VICTORIA-REGINAE
Native to: Northern Mexico (Chihuahuan Desert)
Hardy to: 10°F
AGAVE VICTORIA-REGINAE × LECHUGUILLA
Note: New-to-me hybrid, possibly originating at the DBG.
AGAVE VIVIPARA ‘MARGINATA’
Native to: Central America (southern Mexico to Costa Rica)
Hardy to: 28°F
Note: Often listed as Agave angustifolia.
AGAVE WEBERI
Native to: only found as cultivated plants in north-central and northeastern Mexico and southern Texas
Hardy to: 10°F
AGAVE WOCOMAHI
Native to: Northern Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua)
Hardy to: 20°F
AGAVE XYLONACANTHA
Native to: Central Mexico (Hidalgo)
Hardy to: 25°F
AGAVE ZEBRA
Native to: NW Mexico (Sonora)
Hardy to: 15°F
RELATED POSTS:
This part of the alphabet seems to have most of the gems! Thanks for the survey. I've no doubt it was a lot of work to get all those into a post and get the names straight. I think in Phoenix they most all need some protective shade, don't they?
ReplyDeleteGood reminder to that a Genus can have some eye-catching thrillers, and some rather...meh.
So true! Usually I wouldn't take photos of the likes of A. schottii, felgeri, lechuguilla etc. because they don't appeal to me visually. However, this time I wanted to create a more complete listing so I did.
DeleteQuite a few agaves at the DBG get at least some shade during the day. Others are exposed to the full sun most of the day; those are typically the species from harsher climates, often with gray or blue leaves.
I agree with Gail, most of the prettiest ones are on this batch! Handy reference too to get an idea of their eventual size...
ReplyDeleteI agree. I can't think of a better venue than the DBG to see so many agaves in one place.
DeleteI've been so busy the last few days I saved this until I knew I'd have time to really take it all in. Seeing that big clump of A. macroacantha at the top took me back to my last visit when I fell in love with it. Thank you for doing this series!
ReplyDeleteThat clump of Agave macrocacantha is something else, isn't it! If you need a baby or two, I have several that are ready to be separated from their mom.
DeleteWow! I truly lust in my heart for some of those gems. I've never heard of the Subsimplex before but its a stunner. As are a bunch of others. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDelete