''Agave decipiens'', common names False Sisal or Florida agave, is a plant species
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
to coastal
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...
though cultivated as an ornamental in other regions.
[Flora of North America v 26 p 452, ''Agave decipiens''](_blank)
/ref> The species is reported naturalized in Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, and South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
.
Some authors have suggested that material from Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
and from the Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...
in Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
might be of the same species as ''A. decipiens.'' Gentry and Zona, however, discounted this possibility, regarding this non-Floridian material as ''A. vivipara'' (= ''A. angustifolia'')
''Agave decipiens'' grows on hummocks in the Everglades
The Everglades is a natural region
A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate.
From the ecological point o ...
and other marshy areas very close to sea level. It is an arborescent
A rhizome is a concept in post-structuralism describing a nonlinear network that "connects any point to any other point". It appears in the work of French theorists Deleuze and Guattari, who used the term in their book '' A Thousand Plateaus'' t ...
(tree-like) species with a trunk
Trunk may refer to:
Biology
* Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso
* Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure
* Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy
* Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant
Computing
* Trunk (software), in rev ...
up to 4 m tall, frequently producing suckers (vegetative offshoots). Leaves are frequently 100 cm long, though some of twice that length have been recorded. Leaves have wavy margins with teeth. Flowering stalks are up to 5 m tall, with a large panicle
A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is ...
of greenish-yellow flowers. Fruit is a dry capsule up to 5 cm long.[Gentry, H. S. 1982. Agaves of Continental North America. Tucson.][Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida i–x, 1–806. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q391698
decipiens
Endemic flora of Florida
Everglades
Plants described in 1892
Taxa named by John Gilbert Baker