1,000 octopus agaves
When I was walking Stella in the UC Davis Arboretum this morning, I came across a curious sight:
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An octopus agave flower stalk so heavy that it touches the ground:
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It’s weighted down so much because it’s laden with bulbils — genetically identical clones of the mother plant that grow on the inflorescence instead of seeds.
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I wasn’t going to stand there and count the bulbils (even I have better things to do), but from what I gathered online, estimates range from 1,000 to 2,000 bulbils, possibly even more.
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The bulbils stay attached until there’s no “juice” left in the flower stalk — often for more than a year, long after the leaves of the mother plant have died. Then they drop and, if they land in an opportune spot, begin to root on their own.
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Often the bulbils are removed and potted up for propagation purposes. A few years ago, I was given about ¼ of a flower stalk covered with bulbils. I didn’t really have room for an octopus agave in my own garden, so I took the flower stalk to a Sacramento Cactus & Succulent Society meeting and put it on the free table.
As for the plant above, I have no idea if anybody will take any bulbils, but I will check back in a few weeks. Personally, I don’t need any.
Nearby is another Agave vilmoriniana that looks large enough to flower soon — another 1,000 or 2,000 bulbils coming in the near future.
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There are a lot of Agave vilmoriniana planted out all over the UC Davis Campus — more than any other agave species except maybe Agave americana, which I consider a ubiquitous weed. I bet the reason why there are so many of them is the widespread availability of bulbils. They’re easy to root and grow reasonably quickly — free plants for landscaping purposes. Plus, Agave vilmoriniana is one of the most user-friendly agaves: no teeth on the leaf margins, and harmless rubbery terminal spines. That makes it ideal for planting along sidewalks or anywhere else where humans are likely to tread.
Other places, too, are blessed with an abundance of Agave vilmoriniana bulbils. I saw this at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden a few years ago:
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Speaking of bulbils: Other agave species routinely making bulbils instead of (or in addition to) seeds include Agave desmetiana, Agave vivipara (frequently labeled A. angustifolia), and Agave sisalana (more info).
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I have taken Agave vilmoriniana and desmetiana (variegated) plantlets to my cactus society. Everyone loves them!
ReplyDeleteThey sure make it easy to share the wealth!
DeleteWe've got that foggy cover here this morning, too. Makes for nice photos, what a great place to take Stella for a walk!
ReplyDeleteI take Stella to the oak grove in the Arboretum every Saturday, followed by a stop at Starbucks where she gets a puppucino. We have our routine!
DeleteAgave vilmoriniana is just a touch too tender to grow here, but that wouldn't have stopped me from plucking a couple and growing them on just for the fun of it.
ReplyDeleteGrow here out in the ground I mean... and it's way too big and soft (arms easily broken) to grow in a container, I've tried.
DeleteYou're right, definitely not a container plant. That's why they don't look all that good in nurseries. They want to be in the ground.
DeleteI have flashes of anxiety whenever I look at my 2 largest Agave ovatifolia (one 'Frosted Blue' and the other 'Vanzie') and envision them with bloom stalks. It's somewhat comforting to see that they can produce that volume of bulbils, at least if left in place long enough. My neighbor has an Agave desmetiana currently dropping scads of bulbils. I probably haven't left my bloomed-out agaves long enough prior to harvesting bulbils but both A. desmetiana and A. vilmoriniana were generous even so.
ReplyDeleteRemoving an ovatifolia carcass is no picnic. Ovatifolia sometimes produces bulbils, but not reliably. I've heard that most agave species can make bulbils when their flower stalk gets damaged.
DeleteImagine if they all landed in a 'suitable' spot. That's a wicked groundcover.
ReplyDeleteI had 7 bloom at the same time. Didn’t replant them.
ReplyDeleteAbout 100 bloomed all at once in Seaworld’s parking lot during the COVID shutdown.
USD also has lots of them in their landscape. Likely being clones they will probably bloom all at once.