Plantae > Tracheophyta > Liliopsida > Asparagales > Asparagaceae > Agave > Agave parryi

Agave parryi (Parry's agave)

Synonyms: Agave applanata var. parryi (homotypic); Agave leopoldii; Agave parryi var. parryi

Wikipedia Abstract

Agave parryi, known as Parry's agave or mescal agave, is a slow-growing agave native to Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico. The leaves are grey green and have a spine at the tip. One of the distinguishing features is that the point on the tip, which is typically dark tan, brown, or black, is darker than the leaf. Indentations of previous leaves show on the back of each leaf. The Huachuca variety grows in a rosette pattern as large as 2½ feet in diameter.
View Wikipedia Record: Agave parryi

Infraspecies

Agave parryi neomexicana (Parry's agave) (Attributes)
Agave parryi parryi (Attributes)
Agave parryi var. couesii
Agave parryi var. huachucensis
Agave parryi var. truncata

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-Low
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Hazards [2]  The plants have a very sharp and tough spine at the tip of each leaf. They need to be carefully sited in the garden.
Leaf Type [2]  Evergreen
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Moths, Bats
Structure [3]  Shrub
Usage [2]  The leaves contain saponins and an extract of them can be used as a soap; It is best obtained by chopping up the leaves and then simmering them in water - do not boil for too long or this will start to break down the saponins; A very strong fibre obtained from the leaves is used for making rope, coarse fabrics etc; A paper can also be made from the fibre in the leaves; The thorns on the leaves are used as pins and needles; The dried flowering stems are used as a waterproof thatch;
Height [2]  20 inches (0.5 m)
Width [2]  39 inches (1 m)
View Plants For A Future Record : Agave parryi

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Chiricahua National Monument V 1421 Arizona, United States
Fort Bowie National Historic Site III 1004 Arizona, United States
Grand Canyon National Park II 1210128 Arizona, United States

Predators

Aspidiotus nerii (ivy scale)[4]
Eugenes fulgens (Magnificent Hummingbird)[5]
Ovaticoccus agavium (agave ovaticoccin)[6]
Patagioenas fasciata (Band-tailed Pigeon)[7]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
♦ 4Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
♦ 5del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
♦ 6Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 7Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0