Agave macroacantha

Not to be confused with Agave macrantha, a synonym of Agave mitis

Agave macroacantha, the black-spined agave or large-thorned agave, is a species of succulent flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae naturally occurring in Oaxaca and also near the town of Tehuacan in the State of Puebla, Mexico.^[4]

Agave macroacantha
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asparagaceae
Subfamily:	Agavoideae
Genus:	Agave
Species:	A. macroacantha
Binomial name
Agave macroacantha Zucc.
Synonyms[2][3]
List of synonyms Agave flavescens var. macroacantha (Zuccarini) Jacobi 1864 Agave flavescens var. macroacantha (Herbert) Jacobi 1865 Agave pugioniformis Zucc. 1832 Agave flavescens Salm-Dyck 1834 Agave macracantha Herbert 1837 (nom. inval.) Agave besseriana Van Houtte 1868 Agave subfalcata Jacobi 1869 Agave macrantha Jacobi 1869 (nom. inval) Agave besseriana candida Jacobi 1870 (nom. inval) Agave besseriana longifolia glauca Jacobi 1870 (nom. inval) Agave besseriana longifolia viridis Jacobi 1870 (nom. inval) Agave besseriana hystix hort ex Hooker 1871 Agave linearis Jacobi 1871 Agave oligophylla Backer 1877 Agave sudburyensis Backer 1877 Agave paucifolia Backer 1878 (Nom. illeg.) Agave integrifolia Backer 1888 Agave macracantha var. integrifolia Trelease 1907 Agave macracantha var. planifolia A. Berger 1915 Agave pugioniformis Zucc. 1833

Description

Agave macroacantha produces a medium-sized leaf rosette that can be basal or can grow on a very short stem. Leaves are succulent, greyish green and up to 1.8 feet long at a maximum, ending in sharp black spines that are up to 1.2 inches long at the tips. Flowers are small, grey and red, growing in bunches on sturdy stems of up to 3 m (10 feet) in height.^[5]

Cultivation

The plant prefers a dry, sunny and hot location for summer and from early autumn onwards a cooler, well-lit space. It likes regular watering in summer and only minimum watering in winter, and will fare well in a large pot with sparse, gravelly soil.^[6][2][7]

In the UK this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.^[8]