![]() The Garden is open to visitors until 6pm in September and the Arid Lands House where the agave is growing will close at 5. Agave sap is used to make agave syrup as well as tequila, which comes from Agave tequiliana Agave sisalana is widely cultivated for sisal, a fibre harvested from the leaves, which is used for making rope. There are about 250 Agave species, many of which have a variety of commercial uses. ![]() There was also a flowering in 2001 of an Agave sisalana which went through the roof of the Glasshouse. This was Agave tequiliana (which is the plant that tequila comes from). The last time we had an agave flowering in the Garden was June 2004. Agaves flower once and then die, so in order to continue the next generation, they produce copious amounts of seed, or sometimes new plants called bulbils, on the flowering structure. They build up a large rosette of succulent leaves over many years and then put all their energy into producing an enormous flowering structure, or inflorescence. The species Agave comes from the desert regions of Mexico. The agave can be found in the Arid Lands House of the Glasshouse Range. Once the plant has finished flowering, it will die. We think that it will flower for about a month (we’re not totally sure as the species is not fully identified), during which time the flowers will open from the bottom to the top. As a result, this is a rare sight in cultivation, combined with the fact they are not commonly grown in gardens. If this is Agave vivipara then the seedlings will start growing in the flower structure itself, Dr Cano continues: “That’s why the species is called vivipara, which means that it bears its own babies like mammals.”Īgaves are generally referred to as ‘century plants’ as they can take up to 100 years to flower. At the tip of the style is the stigma where the pollen will land. There are six of these on each flower, with one shorter ‘stick’ without pollen which is the female part, or style. The stamen are long, yellow ‘sticks’ (filaments), which end with pollen covered anthers, these are the male part of the flower. A favorite for their stiff, erect flower spikes of one to four feet tall, lupines have flowers that are similar to sweet peas and grow in large, crowded racemes. ![]() This flower has both male and female parts which should allow it to self-pollinate, though we believe that it may also be pollinated by birds in the wild. Cambridge Botanic Lights – Frequently Asked Questions.Corporate Support and Corporate Friends.
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