Agave americana L.
A large, herbaceous perennial. Stems from 7 to 10 m tall. Leaves lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, grey-green, sometimes variegated, thick and fleshy, to 2 m long, with spiny margins and ending in a stout spine up to 4 cm long. Leaves form a large basal rosette 2 to 4 m across. Flowers greenish-yellow, appearing after 10 to 15 years, in dense clusters at the ends of the branches of a large panicle. The flowers are sometimes replaced by vegetative shoots.
Local:Locally common and well established on the East Side sand slopes as well as southern parts of Gibraltar.
Global: A native of Mexico; introduced and naturalised in the Mediterranean region, the Atlantic coast of Europe and in the Canary Islands.
Flowers from June to July (August).
A Mexican drink called “pulque” is obtained from the fermented juice of young flower spikes.