Mystery Agave wants a name

[wantonamara]

Well, she is a mystery to me . I found her after I picked up a guy walking out 10 miles from nowhere with groceries and I gave him a lift home. The good Karma came to me immediately when I pulled out of his home down this odd road, for there she was, sitting so pretty. I stopped the car and asked for some pups. I have been back three times. My friend who has a pup has named it Boss Hog. HE or she is 6'+ x 8'+ I don't think it is a Ag. Americana and it is definitely not A. scabra. I am confused by the crossbanding, the floppy rhythm of the leaves, their width. I have surfed around looking for ones that might be similar to no avail. It is a neighborhood of renters, so there is no one that knows who planted it, or when. I can get an image one step larger if you want.

It is growing in some heavy clay and has withstood temperatures around 15 degrees without harm. It has taken cold and wet. It has taken extended heat, 69 days above 100 without much rain, but it was looking a bit tired when the fall rains hit last year.- Mara

[amanzed]

I know most Agave salmiana varieties don't have that distinct banding. And it's hard to make an overall habit comparison because this mystery agave clumps so heavily. But the habit looks quite similar, as does the overall shape of the leaves.

So what do you think... Could it have some A. salmiana in it?

--dean
DC Elzinga

[wantonamara]

I had also thought that it might possibly have some Ag. Shrevei Var magna in it. There is a bit of crossbanding that species. The cross banding is not quite as outrageous as it is in the picture. My camera did emphasize it. It does seems to be able to take cold and wet. It has lived through a 4 day freezing rain where we had an inch of ice holding rain in for 4 days a couple of winters ago. Trees were falling over because of the weight on their branches and the ice holding the water in place. It was very odd. weather is odd . This was in soggy clay. Most of the salmiana types around here are the dark green ones. and they seem to be broader, lower. But salmiana is probably more probable since it is a much more common type. It is in a neighborhood where many Mexicans from the northeast of Mexico to live, so anything is possible. I do not have a firm thought any which way about the ID since I am no expert. I just stick what I find in the dirt and am always on the lookout for more. I am not much better than a guesser. I aspire to educated guessing.
Agave shrevei ssp. magna

[wantonamara]

Some of the pups come up without the cross banding. I don't take them.

[amanzed]

I'm sure one of the Agave grown-ups might come along with a better answer, but if someone DID hybridize Agave salmiana x zebra, I'd expect it to look something like your mystery agave.

--dean

[Carl Schoenfeld]

If you're in Texas I would say it is most likely Agave americana var. protoamericana! I have seen it many times in northeastern Mexico in habitat where it is quite variable in color, banding and leaf size and shape. It is quite common in rural Texas where it is passed around like you just have done. It is very tolerant of cold and wet particular both at the same time. Your photo matches what I have seen but the key is are you in Texas or the eastern US!
Agave americana var. protoamericana is much less common on the west coast where there are many other species which could be misidentified with it that would not thrive in the eastern US.

[agavegreg]

Looks like one of the many forms of Agave americana to me, and Carl could be right on with A. americana ssp. protamericana.

[wantonamara]

I am west of austin , about 30 miles in high limestone hills. It isn't like the many AG. Americanas that I have seen around Austin.Usually there leaves are thinner , more strappy and I have never seen them with that banding, I will take your word on it. I have a hard time telling where one variety stops and another starts.

[Pat McNeal]

I seen this same taxa all over the southern half of Texas. You even find out in west Texas. There are a few old fellas growing in Alpine at just over 5,000 feet so it's really cold hardy.
It's the most common Agave in the old neighborhoods in towns like Del Rio, Uvalde, Eagle Pass, Junction and Rocksprings.
It's adaptability to clay means it can grow in the wetter eastern part of the state too.
I always think of the folded leaves as a sign it is not A.weberi or A.scabra but A. americana protoamericana which are the three commonest species in the area.

[wantonamara]

I was not aware that the variety varied so much. I am more familiar with the Ag Americana looking like the examples below (not on my land). The color is lighter and grayer and the leaves a lot thinner. Live and learn.

[Paul S]

As Carl and Greg say - this looks just exactly like some plants you see in Tamaulipas/Nuevo Leon, especially the populations SW of Cd Victoria along the top of that mountain pass and into Jaumave/Miquihuana. They were explained to me as being Agave americana protamericana/scabra intergrades, which explains the salmiana-like flexure of the leaves I think, plus the variability of the plants along there. Gentry coined the phrase 'hybrid swarm' and I have never seen a more appropriate population than along there.

[wantonamara]

"flexure", what a beautiful word that needs no explaining. How could I have lived without knowing this word. It is one of those words where the need for it creates its form. I had to check to make sure you had not just made that one up. That will be filed in my brain right up there with Chatoyance, Chiarascura, etx.. ( words I use when I need to cram my beret firmly on my head). Thank you,

[braveone2u]

It looks like the mother plant of my A. marmorata. In any case, it doesn't look like the plants in this agave video:

YouTube - AGAVES vs. NOTHING INSIDE (the ouch! collection video)

Good luck.