Agave schottii var. schottii
Family: Asparagaceae
Schott's century plant,  more...
Agave schottii var. schottii image

Leaves 0.7-1.2 cm wide; blade yellowish green with conspicous bud-prints on both surfaces, margins filiferous, apical spine grayish, weak and brittle, 0.8-1.2 cm. Scape 1.6-2.5 m. Inflorescences spicate; peduncle shorter than 2 mm. Flowers 1 or 2-3 per cluster, 2.9-4.2 cm; perianth tube 8-11 (-14) × 5-8 mm, limb lobes light yellow; filaments inserted 6-13 mm above perianth base; ovary 0.8-1.5 cm. 2n = 60, 120.

Flowering late spring--late summer. Gravelly to rocky places, mostly in desert scrub, grasslands, juniper and oak woodlands; 900--2000 m; Ariz., N.Mex.; Mexico (Sonora).

Agave schottii var. schottii hybridizes with A. deserti var. simplex, A. chrysantha, and possibly A. palmeri or A. parryi var. parryi.

LEAVES: numerous, 7-12 mm wide, narrowly linear, pliant, usually falcate, yellowish green with conspicuous bud imprinting; terminal spine 8-12 mm long, fine, weak and brittle, gray.

INFLORESCENCE: with scape 1.6-2.5 m tall, 6-14 mm in diameter, spicate.

FLOWERS: 29-42 mm long, single or in clusters of 2-3; tepals light yellow, zygomorphic, unequally spreading; filaments inserted high in tube, 6-13 mm above base; ovary 8-15 mm long with a strongly curved neck 3-9 mm long; floral tube 8-11(-14) mm long, 5-8 mm wide. 2n = 60, 120.

NOTES: Low and high desert scrub, grassland, juniper and oak woodlands: Cochise, See also parent taxon. Graham, Pima, Santa Cruz cos; 900-2000 m (3000-6500 ft); May-Jul; sw NM; Son., Mex. Hybridizes with A. deserti subsp. simplex in Pima Co., A. palmeri or A. parryi var. parry in Cochise Co., and possibly A. chrysantha in Cochise and Pima cos.

REFERENCES: Hodgson, Wendy. 1999. Agavaceae. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. 32(1).