Scientific: Agave x 'Lil Shark'
Common: Lil Shark agave, Mako Shark agave
Family: Asparagaceae (subfamily Agavoideae)
Origin: Hybrid cross of Agave macroacantha and Agave victoria-reginae by Kelly Griffin and Rancho Tissue Technologies
Pronounciation: A-GA-ve LIL SHARK
Hardiness zones
Sunset 12-24
USDA 9-11
Landscape Use: In Phoenix, this is a wonderful agave for desert display gardens, rock gardens, raised planters, and smaller oasis and xeric landscape beds where a textural accent plant is desired. This is not an agave for large, open xeric or desert landscape spaces.
Form & Character: Upright, stiff and reaching, yet diminuative in stature, perfect symmetry, slight sense of danger, landscape "eye candy".
Growth Habit: Evergreen, succulent and fibrous, herbaceous perennial, monocarpic, slow growth rate to 2-feet tall and 2-feet wide, nearly always solitary, only rarely producing basal offshoots.
Foliage/Texture: Strap-shaped, fibrous dull blue green glaucous leaves, 18-inches long by 2-inches wide, leaves have smooth margins but taper to a sharp stout darkened terminal spine; medium coarse texture.
Flowers & Fruits: Single flower stalk, non arborescent to 12-feet tall. Individual flowers tubular orange red with extended yellow stamens; sterile (no fruit). Remember its monocarpic, so after flowering the plant dies.
Seasonal Color: None
Temperature: Cold tolerant to 20oF and heat tolerant to 120oF.
Light: In Phoenix, mostly full sun. Some protection from western afternoon summer sun to maintain normal foliar color. Full sun in southern California. Will tolerate only limited partial shade conditions.
Soil: Tolerant of all soil textures as long as the soil is well drained. This agave is moderately salt tolerant.
Watering: In Phoenix, infrequent deep waterings during summer every one to three weeks depending on soil texture, but in southern California only very little to no supplemental water is needed. Supplemental water somewhat increases plant growth rate and eventual size.
Pruning: None required.
Propagation: Tissue culture
Disease and Pests: Agave snout weevil (Scyphophorus acupunctatus) will attack many agave species in the low desert of Arizona.
Additional comments: This is a very handsome, small-sized hybrid agave that is noteworthy for its perfect symmetry.
