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Agave salmiana
Also called Pulque Agave
Agave salmiana is a large rosette succulent from central and southern Mexico, grown for its big spiky leaves and for pulque, a traditional fermented drink. It is monocarpic, flowering once after 15 to 25 years and then dying, so it suits a sunny, well-drained spot where its size can be accommodated.
Agave salmiana (also known as maguey pulquero and green maguey) is a species of the family Asparagaceae, native to central and southern Mexico. It is also reportedly naturalized in South Africa, Italy, Spain, especially in the Canary Islands, and southern Portugal.
This species, also called agave of Salm or Salm-Dick, is dedicated to the German prince and botanist Joseph zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck (1773–1861).
Cultivation is easy in a well-drained sandy soil with sunny exposure. For a pot culture, it requires a container of very large size to remain in a harmonious appearance. It can be used to stabilise a slope. It can withstand a light frost if it is completely dry. It is multiplied more easily by planting shoots than by seedlings.
Originally from southern and central Mexico, it was introduced into gardens with a Mediterranean climate in Europe and sometimes escaped into the wild, thus becoming naturalised in some parts of southern Europe.
Agave abisaii · Agave americana var. franzosini · American century plant · Century plant · Agave anomala · Agave arcedianoensis · Arizona century plant · Maguey · Fox Tail Agave · Cow's Horn Agave · Agave brittoniana · Cayman Agave
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Agave salmiana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
