Agave striata

Agave striata spp. striata displays narrow, rounded, sharply pointed, blue-green leaves in a hemispherical mound. Forms colonies. Exhibits yellow, green, or purple flowers on 8′ stalks. Plants persist after flowering. Thrives in the heat of the summer. Agaves are drought tolerant perennials that require slightly alkaline, loose, well-drained soil. Once established, water infrequently during the hot season. Adds bold form and color in the landscape. They are easy care, drought tolerant plant that is great in landscapes and containers. Protect from frost!

Easy to grow and exceptionally low-water loving – this colony-forming “Century Plant” forms a dome-shaped rosette of quill-like leaves reaching an impressive 3’x3’ with time. After several years it should begin producing offsets, eventually forming a dense, large-scale groundcover that looks like an undulating mass of evergreen spheres. If you want the full effect in a hurry, plant in multiples spaced 1-2’ apart. Individual rosettes will flower once they’re fully mature, sending up a tall flower spike topped by a dense club of green flowers with showy red or purple stamens – much loved by bees. The flowering rosette will eventually die, but the rest of the colony will live on. Exceptionally tolerant of poor soil so long as it has good drainage. Once established it should need little to no additional water and should be kept dry in Winter. Deer resistant.

Full Sun to Partial Shade. Outdoor. Red-Purple.

With its spiky balls of needle-like leaves, Agave striata does not look like a typical agave and is sometimes mistaken for a yucca when not in flower. Plants may be single-headed, but usually they put out offshoots to form a clump. The individual heads are normally between 1½ feet and 3 feet across (½ to 1 meter). The leaves are green in shadier situations, but may be glaucous or tinged red, pink, or purple in strong sun. Many agaves have a definite time of year for flowering, but our plants of A. striata at the Ruth Bancroft Garden have flowered at various seasons, and 3 are in flower this November. The unbranched, slender flower spike is up to 7 or 8 feet tall (to 2½ m.). The flowers are tubular and about 1¼ to 1½ inches long (30-40 mm). Flower color is variable, ranging from green to pale yellow to purple; our plants now in bloom have a vivid green color (note that an accompanying photo shows a plant with purplish flowers that bloomed earlier). Agave striata is widespread in eastern Mexico, from Coahuila and Nuevo Leon in the north down through southern Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosi to Queretaro and Hidalgo in the south. It is very similar to A. stricta, which occurs farther south in Puebla and northwestern Oaxaca, and plants of these two species have often been distributed under the wrong name. However, the rosettes of A. stricta are tighter and generally smaller, and plants of this species are even more inclined to form dense clumps. Also, the leaves of A. stricta are always green, lacking the silvery-bluish color often seen in A. striata, and never taking on the red or purple hues that can color up the latter. The flowers of A. stricta are a little shorter, funnel-shaped rather than tubular, and of a purple to reddish-purple color. Though almost invariably found in nature on limestone or in limestone-derived soils, Agave striata is not particular about soil type in cultivation, and thrives in most any garden soil if sufficient drainage is provided. It is quite hardy, enduring temperatures below 20° F (-7° C), and it makes a striking garden subject.