Scientific: Agave titanota
Common: chalk agave, maguey cachitún, Rancho Tambor agave
Family: Asparagaceae (subfamily Agavoideae)
Origin: Localized to limestone canyon slopes in northern Oaxaca, Mexico.
Pronounciation: A-GA-ve tie-ta-NO-ta
Hardiness zones
Sunset 12-24
USDA 9-11
Landscape Use: Textural accent for small and medium-sized desert gardens and xeric landscape design themes, container specimen, rock gardens.
Form & Character: Upright, robust stiffly arching, rigid, open, stout, dangerous, yet cute and diminuative, xeric.
Growth Habit: Evergreen, succulent and very fibrous, herbaceous perennial, quite variable in final mature size, slow to 1 to 3 feet in height and width, only occassionally grows basal offshoots from rhizomes (called 'ramets' or 'chupones'), monocarpic or semelparous (individual rosettes die after one reproductive cycle - flowering and fruiting).
Foliage/Texture: Flattened, ovate, strap-shaped, succulent and fibrous, variably pale blue (nearly whitish) to dull green, up to 1-foot long and 10-inches wide, leaves arranged in an open rosette pattern, margins usually become bony or woody with dull thorn-like spines, foliage tapering to a pointed terminal spine; very coarse texture.
Flowers & Fruits: Monocarpic growing an elongated stalk to 10- to 15-feet tall bearing yellow flowers, variably after 10 to 30 years; fruits hardened, brown.
Seasonal Color: None, except when flowering in late spring at the end of its days.
Temperature: Heat tolerant, cold tolerant to 25oF.
Light: Full sun
Soil: Sandy to coarse gravelly, somewhat alkaline, well-drained best.
Watering: Apply occassional supplemental water during the summer, none during winter.
Pruning: None, except some may consider tip pruning the sharp and pointed leaf tips to protect the physical integrity of human beings and inflatable sports balls.
Propagation: Seed (often requires manual pollination because naturally pollinated by bats) is slow to germinate requiring 1 to 3 months at 70oF, or division of basal offshoots, which is far more readily accessible.
Disease and Pests: Root rot if soil is chronically damp, scale, chewing insects damage seedlings.
Additional comments: Chalk agave is highly genetically variable growing a relative diverse range of phenotypes. As such, there have been many recoognized varietal (natural and cultivated) selections.
Some clonal selections include:
Taxonomic nuance: Chalk agave is sometimes confused with Agave 'Felipe Otero' (FO-076) or Agave oteroi.
