Agave americana ‘Marginata’ ("Ryuzetsuran")

Japanese name: リュウゼツラン （竜舌蘭）
Scientific name: Agave americana ‘Marginata’

[Overview]
An evergreen succulent with a rosette 3–4 m across, a monocarpic plant that dies after flowering.
It has a very short stem, and the leaves are alternate in a rosette, long linear-lanceolate, 2 m long and 0.3 m wide, fleshy, bluish green with a powdery white surface, with a yellow marginal variegation along the edge.
The leaf tip has a spine 3 cm long, and spines about 1 cm long line the leaf margins.
In Japan it flowers after around 40 years, sending up an erect flower stalk 5–10 m tall and 10 cm across with a panicle, and the flowers open in order from the bottom.
The flowers are yellowish white, and the corolla is 6-lobed with tips that do not curl back.
There are 6 stamens, which project out of the flower.
The fruit is a capsule.

[History]
This cultivar with variegated leaf margins was introduced first and given the name Ryuzetsuran, so the green-leaved basic species that arrived later came to be called "Ao-no" Ryuzetsuran.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, from bulbils formed on the inflorescence, or from offsets formed at the base of the rosette.
It can overwinter outdoors in areas without frost.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, well-ventilated place.
It grows large and needs plenty of space.
It does better on the dry side, so rainfall is sufficient.
From spring to autumn, apply slow-release fertilizer placed on the soil.
When the lower leaves die, cut them off at the base.
Pests include spider mites and scale insects.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)