Fox Tail Agave
Location
Cactus & Succulent Garden
- Common Name: Fox Tail Agave (other common names: lion’s tail, swan’s neck, dragon tree agave, elephant’s trunk, gooseneck succulent, soft-leafed agave, spineless century plant and foxtail)
- Scientific Name: Agave attenuta
- Family Name: Asparagaceae
- Origin: Mexico
- Height: 2’ – 3’
- Width: 3’ – 4’
- Growth: slow;y
- Zone: 10 – 12
- Light Needs: Full sun – Part shade
- Salt Tolerance: unknown
- Soil/PH/Texture: happy with sandy/rocky soils,
- Soil Moisture: medium, regular watering, plant leaves will shrivel in dry conditions, but will revive when given moisture.
- Drought Tolerance: moderate (mature plants)
- Pests/Diseases: No serious pests or diseases.
- Growing Conditions: easy to grow and medium maintenance
- Characteristics: rosette of attractive leaves that are spineless, ovate, light gray-yellowish-green up to 28” long. Suckers form at the base of the rosette forming a colony of rosettes. It rarely flowers and only once in its lifetime, the blooms are very unique and showy, green and white, and appear on a 5’ – 10’ usually drooping flower stem at about 10 years of age. Flowers are followed by seed pods.
- Propagation: by offsets
- Wildlife: deer resistant
- Facts: sap from their leaves and inflorescence may be mildly poisonous to pets and children.
- Designer Considerations: use as an interesting tropical accent or specimen, as a border plant, in mass plantings or in a rock, succulent or cactus garden.
