Agave victoriae-reginae

Another lovely agave which caught my eye as i was scrolling through Pinterest today.

Agave victoriae-reginae lv 2.jpg
Agave victoriae-reginae lv 2” by Stan Shebs. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.

 Discovered via Pinterest User Via Cheryl Northedge

Agave victoriae-reginae (Queen Victoria agave, royal agave) is a small species of succulent flowering perennial plant, noted for its streaks of white on sculptured geometrical leaves, and popular as an ornamental.

This agave is highly variable in form, but in general the rosettes are small and compact, growing to 0.5m, composed of short, rigid, thick leaves that are green with a pattern of distinctive white markings. The markings are generally along leaf keels or margins, giving a sort of polyhedral appearance. Marginal teeth are usually lacking, while the terminus of the leaf may include 1 to 3 spines, each 1.5–3 cm in length. Cream coloured flowers are borne in erect racemes up to 4m in length.

A. victoriae-reginae is found the Chihuahuan Desert in the Mexican States of CoahuilaDurango and Nuevo León, with about a half-dozen subspecies named. The situation is complicated by hybrids with a number of other agave species.[3][4]

It is cold-hardy as agaves go, and thus finds favor as a small accent in many northerly gardens. However it is recommended in the UK that this plant be kept in heated conditions under glass during winter. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society‘s Award of Garden Merit.[5] — Wikipedia

  More information on Agave victoriae-reginae:

Books:
 
 * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! 

Previously in the Interesting Plant series: 

Interesting Plant is a series from A Gardener’s Notebook blog and podcast that highlights the most interesting plants I find in my Internet and real-world travels — Douglas