''Agave bracteosa'' is a species of

agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the arid regions of the Americas. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large Rosette (botany), rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Many plan ...

sometimes known as spider agave or squid agave. It is native to the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that ...

of northeastern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

(spanning the states of

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

and

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

), where it prefers well-drained and bright but shaded or protected locations, such as under trees or on cliffs or rocky slopes (facing away from the sun). The species can be found growing at altitudes between 900 and 1700 meters (from 2,950' ft. up to nearly 5,500') above sea level. Although it occupies a small range, it is not considered to be threatened. Small among the agaves, its green and succulent leaves are long and

lanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

, 50–70 cm long and 3–5 cm at the base, where they are the widest. Compared to the larger, more formidable agaves, they have minute

serration Serration is a saw-like appearance or a row of sharp or tooth-like projections. A serrated cutting edge has many small points of contact with the material being cut. By having less contact area than a smooth blade or other edge, the applied pr ...

s (teeth) along the margins but neither teeth, nor terminal spine, at the leaf tip. The leaves have a tendency to curl somewhat, in a fashion reminiscent of the octopus agave '' A. vilmoriniana''. The inflorescence spike is also short, at 1.2–1.7 meters, and its upper-third is densely covered with white or pale-yellow flowers. The flowers are distinctive, in that

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s arise from a disk-shaped receptacle rather than the usual tube. The

stamens The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...

are quite long.

Howard Scott Gentry Howard Scott Gentry (December 10, 1903 – April 1, 1993) was an American botanist recognized as the world's leading authority on the agaves. Gentry was born in Temecula, California. In 1931 he received an A.B. (bachelor's) degree in vertebrate ...

, ''Agaves of Continental North America'' (University of Arizona Press, 1982) pp. 91-93

Gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

defines a group "Choritepalae" that includes ''A. bracteosa'' along with '' Agave ellemeetiana'' and '' Agave guiengola'', and states that the discoid receptacle and unarmed leaves are different enough from other agaves to justify placing ''A. bracteosa'' and ''A. ellemeetiana'' into a separate genus, but the characteristics of ''A. guiengola'' link the group to the rest of ''Agave''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q140482 bracteosa Endemic flora of Mexico Flora of Coahuila Flora of Nuevo León Flora of Tamaulipas Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental Garden plants of North America