Agave desmetiana – The elegant mystery century plant

Agave desmetiana is a mysterious North American native century plant, hailing from south of the US border, toward the southern tip of Mexico. Experts still argue about exactly where, with some claiming its origin is Oaxaca, Yucatan, and Veracruz. Not only do we not know for sure where it’s from, but we don’t have concensus on what it is? To be a true species, a plant must be able to set seed, and that capability has so far eluded Agave desmetiana, leading most agavephiles to conclude that it’s one of several natural pre-Columbian hybrids, between existing species. 2023 DNA studies have shown it closely allied to Agave angustifolia and Agave attenuata, which makes sense from a plant breeding perspective.

What we do know is that when Agave desmetiana was first published in Germany in 1866, it was named after nineteenth century Belgian nursery owner Louis De Smet (1813-1887). When publishing a new species, the author is required to designate a type specimen, so that researchers in the future can refer back to original type. This was not done, so 86 years later (1952), agave researcher Howard Scott Gentry, selected a lectotype (a later designate type specimen), from a home yard in Sinoloa, Mexico.

Since that time, the frost sensitive Agave desmetiana has become one of the most popular century plants in regions like Southern California and Arizona, due to its elegant form, ease of growth, and lack of side spines. It also makes a superb container specimen for those who reside in colder winter climates. It’s hybrid origin most likely added some genetic instability, resulting in a plant that is highly prone to mutation. The first mutation to become popular in the trade is Agave desmetiana ‘Variegata’, which is planted in mass in warm climate landscapes.

In 2008, we found a sport in an Arizona Home Depot parking lot with edges that had much wider borders than the original ‘Variegata’. We named this form Agave desmetiana ‘Desert Sunset’, and introduced it in 2014.

One of the most popular mutations of Agave desmetiana was found at Joe Hoaks’s Florida Nursery, and entered the trade as Agave desmetiana ‘Joe Hoak’.

Just when we thought we’d seen all that Agave desmetiana had to offer, Agave desmetiana ‘Quicksilver’ appeared with silvery white centered leaves, bordered by a dark edge.

Agave ‘Quicksilver’ wasn’t finished mutating, and soon produced the amazing Agave desmetiana ‘Emerald Tides’ whose leaves had much whiter centers, and with an added ruffled edge to the leaves.

And if that wasn’t enough, another sport showed up with silver blue leaves, highlighted by a light yellow border, under the name Agave ‘Galactic Traveler’. This number of mutations is really quite incredible for a single clone that can’t set seed. This is far from all of the Agave desmetiana mutations, but these are certainly the most distinctive ones we’ve seen far.