Agave angustifolia

Agave angustifolia (Caribbean agave) is a plant which is native to Mexico and Central America. It is used to make mezcal and also as an ornamental plant, particularly the cultivar 'Marginata'.

Agave angustifolia
A. angustifolia 'Marginata'
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Agavoideae
Genus: Agave
Species:
A. angustifolia
Binomial name
Agave angustifolia

The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families regards Agave angustifolia as an illegitimate synonym for Agave vivipara L.[1]

Other sources maintain them as distinct species with non-overlapping native distributions (García-Mendoza and Fernando Chiang 2003). A. angustifolia has narrow, stiffly erect leaves with moderately-spaced spines, producing capsules, not bulibiferous; whereas A. vivipara is described as having shorter, recurved leaves with short-spaced spines and bulbiferous. A. vivipara is likely similar to A. karatto. The A. vivipara of Miller (1768) and Smith et al. (2008) seem different, of a much smaller habit and narrower leaves, from the A. vivipara of Trelease (1913) and García-Mendoza and Fernando Chiang (2003), of a much larger habit.

  • with inflorescence in Hyderabad, India
  • inflorescence- close up in Hyderabad, India
  • in Hyderabad, India
  • thorn of Caribbean agave at early stages

References
  1. WCSP (2011), World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2011-09-26, search for "Agave vivipara"
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