Agave deserti

Desert agave

Family: Agavaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Desert agave is a California native shrub found in desert regions of southwestern California, growing in rocky or sandy desert habitats at elevations near sea level to 900 meters. Flowering from late spring to early summer, this plant produces tall panicle-like flower stalks reaching 2 to 6 meters high with yellow-green flowers. Growing in dense rosettes 3 to 7 decimeters wide, it develops thick, lance-linear leaves with sharp marginal teeth and prominent terminal spines up to 4 centimeters long. Its leaves are light green to bluish-gray, with distinctive teeth spaced about 1.5 to 3 centimeters apart and ending in a sharp spine. The fruit is an elongated capsule 3 to 6 centimeters long, containing small black seeds approximately 5 to 6 millimeters in size.

California counties: San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, Imperial, Alameda

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.