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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Agavaceae (now Asparagaceae) |
| Origin: Mexico (North America) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Yellow |
| Bloomtime: Infrequent |
| Height: 3-4 feet |
| Width: 4-6 feet |
| Exposure: Sun or Shade |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 0-10° F |
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Agave gentryi 'Jaws' (Hardy Agave) - This selection of Agave gentryi is a medium-sized rosette-forming succulent with glossy apple green leaves to 4 feet tall by 6 feet wide. This solitary growing plant has strong bud imprints and large teats and teeth along the leaf margin with the leaves folding together distinctively to resemble a mouth full of teeth, hence the name 'Jaws'. Plant in shade, especially in hotter climates, although it should tolerate coastal California full sun. This is one of the most cold tolerant of the large agave, tolerating temperatures down to 5° F. Water occasionally to regularly. Agave gentryi was first described by Howard Scott Gentry in Agaves of Continental North America. He described this plant as Agave macroculmis and noted that the leaves grew to 45-85 cm (18-33 inches) long by 17-26 cm (7 -10 inches) wide. In Joachim Thiede's more recent treatment of Agave in Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Monocotyledons he cites Bernd Ullich, who had renamed and described this plant as Agave gentryi after noting the name A. macroculmis be rejected because it was a synonym for Agave atrovirens. Thiede describes the leaf size as 60-100 cm (24 – 39 inches) long x 17-26 cm (7 -10 inches) wide. We were recently contacted by the UC Berkeley Botanic Garden who question the size that we list for this plant because of a plant within their collection they had received as Agave gentryi that had reached 8 feet tall by 10 feet wide. This plant in Berkeley far exceeds the described dimensions of the species and while both the Berkeley plant and 'Jaws' may have been collected in the same locality, we do not know that these two plants are the same clone or why the plant at the Berkeley Botanic Garden has gotten so large. Agave gentryi 'Jaws' was a offset collected by the John Fairey and Carl Schoenfeld in the late 1990's from 8,000 feet elevation in the mountainous areas of Nuevo Leon in northern Mexico where it grows in pine forests. Reportedly, the Berkeley plant was from seed collected in 1993 from a similar habitat in the neighboring state of Tamaulipas. Agave gentryi 'Jaws' was introduced by Yucca Do Nursery. Photos courtesy of Yucca Do Nursery.
This information about Agave gentryi 'Jaws' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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