century plant

century plant

n.

See agave.

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century plant

n

(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Plants) an agave, Agave americana, native to tropical America but naturalized elsewhere, having very large spiny greyish leaves and greenish flowers on a tall fleshy stalk. It blooms only once in its life, after 10 to 30 years (formerly thought to flower after a century) Also called American aloe

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

century plant - tropical American plants with basal rosettes of fibrous sword-shaped leaves and flowers in tall spikes; some cultivated for ornament or for fiber agave, American aloe Agavaceae, agave family, family Agavaceae, sisal family - chiefly tropical and xerophytic plants: includes Dracenaceae (Dracaenaceae); comprises plants that in some classifications are divided between the Amaryllidaceae and the Liliaceae Agave americana, American agave - widely cultivated American monocarpic plant with greenish-white flowers on a tall stalk; blooms only after ten to twenty years and then dies Agave sisalana, sisal - Mexican or West Indian plant with large fleshy leaves yielding a stiff fiber used in e.g. rope Agave cantala, cantala, maguey - Philippine plant yielding a hard fibre used in making coarse twine Agave atrovirens, maguey - Mexican plant used especially for making pulque which is the source of the colorless Mexican liquor, mescal Agave tequilana - Mexican plant used especially for making tequila dracaena - an agave that is often cultivated for its decorative foliage Nolina microcarpa, bear grass - stemless plant with tufts of grasslike leaves and erect panicle of minute creamy white flowers; southwestern United States and Mexico sansevieria, bowstring hemp - grown as a houseplant for its mottled fleshy sword-shaped leaves or as a source of fiber desert plant, xerophile, xerophilous plant, xerophyte, xerophytic plant - plant adapted for life with a limited supply of water; compare hydrophyte and mesophyte