Agave univittata, the thorn-crested century plant or thorn-crested agave,[3] is a plant species native to coastal areas of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico, at elevations less than 100 m (300 feet). It has been widely named Agave lophantha[3] by botanists including Howard Scott Gentry,[4] but the name A. univittata is older and therefore more in accord with nomenclatural rules of botany.[5][page needed]

Agave univittata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Agavoideae
Genus: Agave
Species:
A. univittata
Binomial name
Agave univittata
Synonyms[2]
List of synonyms
    • Agave caerulescens Salm-Dyck ex Jacobi
    • Agave heteracantha Zucc.
    • Agave heteracantha var. univittata (Haw.) A. Terracc.
    • Agave lophantha Schiede ex Kunth
    • Agave lophantha var. angustifolia A.Berger
    • Agave lophantha var. brevifolia Jacobi
    • Agave lophantha f. caerulescens (Salm-Dyck ex Jacobi) Voss
    • Agave lophantha var. caerulescens (Salm-Dyck ex Jacobi) Jacobi
    • Agave lophantha var. gracilior Jacobi
    • Agave lophantha var. pallida A.Berger
    • Agave lophantha var. poselgeri A.Berger
    • Agave lophantha var. subcanescens Jacobi
    • Agave univittata var. angustifolia (A.Berger) Jacobson
    • Agave univittata var. brevifolia Jacobi) Jacobson
    • Agave univittata var. caerulescens (Salm-Dyck ex Jacobi) H.Jacobsen
    • Agave univittata var. gracilior (Jacobi) Jacobson
    • Agave univittata var. heteracantha (Zucc.) Breitung
    • Agave univittata var. subcanescens (Jacobi) Jacobson
    • Agave vittata Regel

Agave univittata has thick, fleshy leaves that are stiff and undulate (wavy) along the margins. It has sharp and prominent spines on the edges and tips of the leaves. Flowering stalk is up to 5 m (16 feet) tall, bearing greenish-white to yellow-ish green flowers.[3][4]

It is cultivated as an ornamental plant, and in the UK the cultivar 'Quadricolor' has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[6][7]

Because the species is widespread and the overall population is stable, it is not considered by the IUCN to be threatened.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hernández Sandoval, L.; González-Elizondo, M.; Zamudio, S.; Sánchez, E.; Hernández-Martínez, M.; Matías-Palafox, M. (2022) [amended version of 2019 assessment]. "Agave univittata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T115698571A214329892. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T115698571A214329892.en.
  2. ^ "Agave univittata". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  3. ^ a b c Flora of North America Editorial Committee, ed. (2002). "Agave univittata". Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 444, 449. Retrieved 25 March 2020 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  4. ^ a b Gentry, Howard Scott (1982). Agaves of Continental North America. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. pp. 157–161. ISBN 0-8165-0775-9.
  5. ^ McNeill, John; Wiersema, John Harry (2012). International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi and Plants (Melbourne Code): Adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011. Königstein: Koeltz Scientific Books. ISBN 978-3-87429-425-6. OCLC 940304092.
  6. ^ "Agave univittata 'Quadricolor'". www.rhs.org. Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  7. ^ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). www.rhs.org. Royal Horticultural Society. November 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
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