Agave gypsophila aka Gypsiferous Agave

Agave gypsophila is also called the gypsum century plant. It comes from southwest Mexico. Its range takes in Colima, Guerrero and Jalisco. It belongs to Asparagaceae, the asparagus family. This succulent stays green all year. It grows beneath trees in tropical forests with dry seasons. It lives in rocky ravines with gypsum or limestone. Human acts have harmed and split up its habitat. Useful Tropical Plants reports its 2019 IUCN status as Critically Endangered. Roads and farms threaten the wild habitat that remains.

The plant forms a loose rosette, with no stem in view. Rosettes stand about 2.6–3.3 feet (0.8–1 metre) tall. They spread about 4.6–6.6 feet (1.4–2 metres) across. The long leaves arch out, then bend toward the ground. This shape gives the plant a broad, flowing outline. Each leaf feels fleshy but breaks with ease. Young leaves form a tube before they spread out. They start pale grey-green and turn greyer with age. Small teeth line the wavy edges of each leaf. Each leaf also has a short, dark brown tip spine.

Flowers appear only after years of growth. The rosette dies once it has bloomed. LLIFLE gives a branched flower stalk height of 6.6–9.8 feet (2–3 metres). Useful Tropical Plants gives a taller range: 16.4–19.7 feet (5–6 metres). The sources thus give different heights for plants in bloom. The thin stalk has branches near its top, spaced far apart. Flowers range from yellow to orange. Their bases have the shape of a funnel. LLIFLE says the plant blooms from February through June. Fruit follows from March through July. Grown plants may form bulbils, or small plants, on their flower stalks.

This forest agave needs warmth and light screened by overhead cover. LLIFLE calls for ample water while the plant grows. It also calls for porous soil that drains well. Its native forest is not like a dry, open desert. Frost can cause great harm or kill the plant. Its broad rosette and curved leaves give it a clear garden form. Gardeners can grow it from seed or available shoots at its base. Spines can make those shoots hard to reach without harm.

People gather wild plants for medicine and to build with. In folk medicine, people use it for swelling and bruises inside the body. People also use its flower stalks to build rural homes. Useful Tropical Plants lists no known food uses for this species. It gives broad warnings about agaves. Those warnings do not prove that this species is toxic.