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Agave striata 'Gray Ghost' (Gray Espadín) - This non-trunk-forming plant forms rosettes to 18 inches tall, either solitary or with age in small groups, with very stiff pale gray-blue leaves noticeably striated that are to 16 inches long by about 1 inch wide at their base with a sharp tip and leaf margins that are finely toothed (denticulate) and the underside of the leaf with a rounded keel and a gray-green to olive green color. When the plant is mature an inflorescence rises up to about 6 feet tall holding greenish yellow flowers tight to the stem with purple stamen well exerted. After flowering this plant produces new rosettes from the base of the flowering plant.
Plant in full sun or dry shade with little to no irrigation. This species is considered very hardy tolerating temperatures to at least 0 ° F but in colder areas should have very good drainage or otherwise stay fairly dry in winter. This plant not only looks more like a Yucca but it is noted as being one of the few Agave that is not monocarpic, so it does not die after flowering. Rather the stem branches at the point where the inflorescence initiates and multiple rosettes form, a trait that is again, much like a yucca.
Agave striata 'Gray Ghost' is an unusual pale colored agave that is nice in a container or used in the dry landscape. We first received seed of this plant with the name Yucca eremica and deduced that this was meant to be Hesperoyucca whipplei ssp. eremica but were never certain this correct as the seedlings had leaves much thicker and shorter than other forms of Hesperoyucca that we grow but we needed to wait for it to bloom to determine whether this was the correct name. In May 2019 this plant bloomed clearly it is a nice gray form of Agave striata.
To distinguish it from the other Agave striata that we grow, Agave striata 'East of Ramos', Agave striata 'Guadalcazar' and Agave striata forma purpurea, we decided to call this plant Agave striata 'Gray Ghost' because of its very pale colored leaves.
We sold this plant under the name Hesperoyucca whipplei ssp. eremica from 2013 until 2019 and after this listed it as Agave striata 'Gray Ghost'. We received the seed for this plant from Nick Wilkinson of Grow Nursery who told us that the seed came to him from a plant that had flowered in the Fresno garden of Mark Muradian.
The information displayed on this page about Agave striata 'Gray Ghost' is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
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