Agave montana / 10 seeds (Mountain Agave, Mountain Century Plant)

Native to the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Queretaro, Agave montana is an evergreen perennial succulent known for its form of a symmetrical artichoke. Its solitary rosettes are made of around a hundred broad, fleshy, neatly arranged, brilliant apple green leaves with reddish teeth and brown spines along the margin and a stout 2.5-5 cm long spine at the tip. These leaves spiral in 12 to 16 layers around the center of the plant. As the plant grows, the previous outer leaf bud leaves an imprint on the newly developing leaf, eventually forming a lovely thorny marginal pattern. Ultimately after a period of 10 years, when it reaches flowering age, mature plants develop an asparagus stem that attains a height of up to 12 feet. This stem has 20-30 lateral branches that support the inflorescence of bright yellow flowers that cluster at the tips of the branches, making Agave montana plant look gorgeous. This plant is propagated only through seeds, but seeds germinate very easily. Seed pods are brown and shaped like small blimps. They split upon maturity and release disc-like black seeds. You should germinate the seeds in vitro in agar, gelatin or other growth mediums, and cover lightly with soil since light is needed for germination.

Unlike other species, Agave montana doesn’t produce any buds or offsets and completely disappears after blooming.

Agave montana is drought tolerant but needs regular watering when soil is dry and supplemental watering during the growth period in spring and summer. But the substrate should be made well-draining by mixing gravel with cactus or succulent soil to provide supplemental drainage.

Agave montana is also more cold-tolerant than other agave species and survives down to 10-degree F. however, you should protect this plant from prolonged periods of sub-zero temperatures. It’s also tolerant to heat and poor soils although it thrives in rich organic soil.

The name of Agave montana was first given by botanist Jose Angel Villarreal-Quintanilla in 1996. He used montana as a Spanish word for mountain and it doesn’t refer to the state of Montana. Before that, it was known as Agave macroculmis and Agave gentryi. Today Agave gentryi is another plant that also belongs to northeastern Mexico and is closely related to Agave montana, but grows at a slightly lower elevation. However, flowers of both these species look same. A. gentryi has larger rosettes with longer leaves and it usually develops offsets at the base, whereas A. montana has much more compact rosettes and the plant always remains single (doesn’t produce offsets or daughter plants).

Agave montana is deer and rabbit resistant and attracts hummingbirds and bees during flowering period. This plant was found to be very effective in inhibiting pathogenic fungi like Alternaria porii and Macrophomina phaseolina, and has a potential as a bio-fungicide of crop pathogens. It’s also virtually disease-free, although scale insects may affect it.