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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Agavaceae (now Asparagaceae) |
| Origin: Mexico (North America) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Yellow |
| Bloomtime: Infrequent |
| Synonyms: [A. franzosinii, Hort. A. 'Soledad' ] |
| Height: 6-8 feet |
| Width: 8-10 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 15-20° F |
| May be Poisonous (More Info): Yes |
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Agave 'Sawtooth' - A large succulent that grows to 6 to 8 feet tall by 8 to 10 feet wide as a single large rosette of powdery bluish-gray large leaves that undulate and bend gracefully. Plant in full sun and give little to occasional irrigation. This plant is fairly similar to Agave franzosinii, and in fact it has been sold under this name by other California nurseries. It differs in not being quite as massive and having narrower leaves that are not as ghostly white as A. franzosinii. It also has much smaller, more evenly spaced, teeth along the leaf margins and lacks the dark green bud markings typical of A. franzosinii, where the glaucous covering is rubbed off the emerging leaves from contact with older leaves. See our listing of Agave franzosinii for comparison. 'Sawtooth' is a very attractive large plant that has long been in cultivation in California and thought it as cold hardy as Agave americana, but have been told by those growing this plant in Tucson that it is not as hardy as Agave franzosinii and will be damaged at temperatures around 15 F. We received this plant in the late 1980s from John Greenlee and the original plant in our garden has flowered several times over about 15 year intervals, but each time pupped from near the previous plant to begin anew. Over the years we have asked numerous people what to call this plant, and, while many noted its similarities to Agave franzosinii, we lacked a name until seeing the plant in 2008 at B&B Cactus Farm labeled as Agave 'Sawtooth'. We inquired about this with owner Mark Sitter and it turned out that he had purchased it as Agave franzosinii but coined the name 'Sawtooth' when he realized it was not this species. We think this a great name for this Agave franzosinii form and have also noted the name 'Soledad' used for it – a nice and useful plant that is a tad smaller, but quite different from that big ghostly true Agave franzosinii. At the Ruth Bancroft Garden another similar plants has long been identified as Agave rasconensis, which is often listed as a synonym for Agave americana ssp. americana.
This information about Agave 'Sawtooth' 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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