Agave seemanniana

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Agave seemanniana
Agave seemanniana 03.jpg

Agave seemanniana

Systematics
Order : Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family : Asparagaceae (Asparagaceae)
Subfamily : Agave family (Agavoideae)
Genre : Agaves ( agave )
Subgenus : agave
Type : Agave seemanniana
Scientific name
Agave seemanniana
Jacobi

Agave seemanniana is a plant from the genus of the Agave ( agave ). An English common name is "Seemann's Century Plant". The specific epithet honors the German botanist Berthold Seemann , who discovered the species and sent seeds from it to England.

description

Agave seemanniana grows individually and forms compact rosettes. The yellow / green colored, bluish, ovate to lanceolate, succulent leaves are thickened at the base. They are arranged variably, 30 to 50 cm long and 12 to 20 cm wide. The differently arranged wavy leaf margins are serrated irregularly. The brown end thorn becomes 2 to 4 cm long.

The paniculate straight to curved inflorescence is 3 to 4 m high. The numerous yellow flowers are 50 to 70 mm long, appear on the upper part of the inflorescence and form up to the tip on loosely arranged variable branches. The broad, funnel-shaped flower tube is 7 to 11 mm long.

The elongated three-chamber capsule fruits are 30 to 40 mm long and 15 to 17 mm wide. The black, moon-shaped seeds are 5.5 to 7 mm long and 3.5 to 4.5 mm wide.

Systematics and distribution

Agave seemanniana is common in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas , as well as in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It grows on dry, stony slopes at an altitude of 400 to 2200 m. The variability of the shape of the rosettes and the leaf structure becomes clear within the distribution area.

The first description by Georg Albano von Jacobi was published in 1868. Synonyms are: Agave scolymus var. Seemanniana (Jacobi) A. Terracciano , Agave caroli schmidtii A. Berger , Agave guatemalensis A. Berger , Agave seemanniana var. Perscabra Trel. .

use

The plants are used to make mezcal and pulque . The seed pods, like the capsules of other agaves, are used for fishing. Younger leaves are roasted and consumed by the indigenous people of the Jutipa region .

Investigations by Egyptian scientists have found that plants with a high content of saponin contain pain relieving, anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcer ingredients and that these can possibly be used in the future for the development of medicines.

proof

  • August J. Spread: Agave seemanniana . In: The Agaves . The Cactus & Succulent Journal Yearbook, 1968, p. 61.
  • Howard Scott Gentry: Agave seemanniana . In: Agaves of Continental North America . The University of Arizona Press, 1982, pp. 494-499.
  • Mary Irish, Gary Irish: Agaves, Yuccas and related plants of Continental North America . Timber Press, 2000, pp. 162-163, plates 47, 48.
  • J. Thiede: Agave seemanniana . In: Urs Eggli (Hrsg.): Succulent lexicon. Monocotyledons . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3662-7 , pp. 62 .
  • Bernd Ullrich: The discovery of Agave seemanniana Jacobi . In: British Cactus & Succulent Journal . Volume 10, Number 1, 1992, pp. 24-28.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jacobi: In: Abh. Schles. Ges. Father. Cult., Abth. Natural sciences . 1868, p. 154 (1869).
  2. ↑ Gentry (1982, pp 497-499)
  3. ↑ a b Michael Greulich: In: A special form of Agave seemanniana Jacobi in the Isthmus de Tehuantepec region, Oaxaca, Mexico . In: Avonia . Volume 34, Number 4, 2016, pp. 221-233

Web links

Commons : Agave seemanniana  - Collection of images, videos and audio files