Agave decipiens

Agave decipiens
Agave decipiens at the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Genova
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Agavoideae
Genus: Agave
Species: A. decipiens
Binomial name
Agave decipiens
J.G.Baker
Synonyms[1]

Agave laxifolia J.G.Baker

Agave decipiens, common names False Sisal or Florida agave, is a plant species endemic to southern Florida though cultivated as an ornamental in other regions.[2][3][4] The species is reported naturalized in Spain, India, Pakistan, and South Africa.[5]

Some authors have suggested that material from Central America and from the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico might be of the same species as A. decipiens.[6] Gentry[7] and Zona,[8] however, discounted this possibility, regarding this non-Floridian material as A. vivipara (= A. angustifolia)

Agave decipiens grows on hummocks in the Everglades and other marshy areas very close to sea level. It is an arborescent (tree-like) species with a trunk up to 4 m tall, frequently producing suckers (vegetative offshoots). Leaves are frequently 100 cm long, though some of twice that length have been recorded. Leaves have wavy margins with nasty teeth. Flowering stalks are up to 5 m tall, with a large panicle of greenish-yellow flowers. Fruit is a dry capsule up to 5 cm long.[2][7][9][10]

References

  1. The Plant List, Agave decipiens
  2. 1 2 Flora of North America v 26 p 452, Agave decipiens
  3. BONAP (Biota of North America Project) floristic synthesis, Agave decipiens
  4. Bailey, L.H. & E.Z. Bailey. 1976. Hortus Third i–xiv, 1–1290. MacMillan, New York.
  5. Smith, G.G., & E.M.A. Steyn. 1999. First report of Agave decipiens naturalised in Southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 65:249-252.
  6. Sousa Sánchez, M. & E. F. Cabrera Cano. 1983. Flora de Quintana Roo. Listados Florísticos de México 2: 1–100.
  7. 1 2 Gentry, H. S. 1982. Agaves of Continental North America. Tucson.
  8. Zona, Scott. 2001. Agave decipiens, endemic to Florida. Haseltonia Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. Baker, John Gilbert. 1892. False sisal of Florida. Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information Kew 1892(68):184.
  10. Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida i–x, 1–806. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
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