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Agave atrovirens (Maguey) - One of the largest of the Agave, reaching 6 to 8 feet tall with dense rosettes of dark green 16-inch-wide leaves that have smooth dark green leaf surfaces marked with gray bud imprints and small evenly space dark brown teeth and terminal spines. When mature it produces a 15+ foot spike that has type cymes of reddish buds that open to bright yellow flowers - quite spectacular in bloom!
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and give occasional to very infrequent irrigation. Has proven hardy to at least 25 °F in our nursery garden. Give this plant some room! It is pictured in Howard Scott Gentry's Agaves of Continental North America with him sitting on a leaf within the rosette. Our second image of this plant shows our attempt to recreate this look by putting Greg Starr, author of the more recent book Agaves: Living Sculptures for Landscapes and Containers in a plant growing in a Santa Barbara garden.
Agave atrovirens is native to the central Mexican states of Oaxaca, Puebla and Veracruz where it is used to make the fermented drink pulque, mescal and the nectar used as a natural sweetener. The fibers are also extracted from its leaves to be used for fabric. The name for the genus is one given by Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus. It comes from the Greek word 'agaue' (agauos or agavos) meaning "noble" or "splendid" and originates from Greek mythology. Agaue was the daughter of Cadmus, the king and founder of the city of Thebes, and of the goddess Harmonia. The name was first used by Linnaeus in 1753 when he described Agave americana. The specific epithet comes from the Latin words 'ater' meaning "black" or "dark" and "virens" meaning "green" in reference to this plant's dark green leaves. It is known by several other common names such as Maguey Manso, Tlacámel, and Clacámel. Our original plants were from bulbils collected from our specimen that flowered and died in our nursery garden in 2016 that was grown from a bulbil collected many years ago in Oaxaca. Our later crops were grown from seed collected from a plant that flowered in Woodside, California in 2022.
The information displayed on this page about Agave atrovirens 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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