Parry's Agave

Description:

This succulent was spotted while hiking up White Spar Mtn in Prescott, AZ. This plant grows a huge stalk with yellow flowers when the plant is 20 or more years old and then dies. New plants that have already formed on the root system take over. It is an evergreen. This agave is particularly noted for it's black/dark brown tipped toothed blade like gray/green leaves. It is aka Parry's Century Plant. There are 2 varieties of Parry's Agave--Agave parryi var. huachucensis aka Huachuca Agave and Agave parryi var. truncata aka Mescal Agave.

Habitat:

Prescott is in a high semi-arid four season climate area with much granite, pine trees, flowering plants, succulents and cactus. Several plant communities exist here--Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodlands. 4500 to 8000 elevation.

Notes:

Over 200 varieties of agave have been identified worldwide. In the American Southwest and Mexico they have been used for almost 10,000 years for medicines, soap, fiber food and fermented beverages.