Agave bulliana
Agave bulliana
Safety & Hazards
Many Agave species have strong, sharp spines on the leaves and leaf tips. In theory at least, the flowers, nectar, immature flowering stem and the centre of the rosette of all Agave species is edible and, with proper preparation, can provide a sweet, tasty foodstuff. Some species, however, contain relatively high levels of saponins (which makes them taste bitter) and some other compounds which can cause bellyache, and so these would only be eaten in times of desperation. In addition, many people may find these foods to be strongly laxative the first few times they eat them[1].
Cultivation Details
Requires a sunny position, succeeding in most soils of medium-fertility so long as they are well-drained. Most sspecies are undemanding as to the soil pH, though those found in the wild on limestone soils will grow better in neutral to alkaline conditions. A moderately drought-tolerant species, it grows best with moderate amounts of rain, especially in the growing seasonl[2].
Propagation
Seed - surface sow in a container in a light position. The fertile black seeds germinate readily and can easily be cultured in flats or pots during early stages[3]. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 15 - 20°c[4, 2]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots of well-drained soil when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a sunny position until they are at least 10cm tall before planting out. Division of the plant in the dormant season. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Agave+bulliana>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]The Agaves of Baja California — Gentry H.S. · California Academy of Sciences; San Francisco · 1978 · ISBN 0068-5461 ↩︎
- [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
- [3]The Agave Family in Sonora; Agriculture Handbook No. 399 — Gentry H.S. · Agicultural Research Service, USDA; Washington D.C. · 1972 ↩︎Gives quite a lot of information on the traditional uses of the plants.
- [4]Growing from Seed. Volume 1. — Rice. G. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1987 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.
- [5]Agave Agavaceae — Thiede J. · Springer Nature · 2020 · https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-56486-8_111 ↩︎
- [6]Huaco and Amole: A Survey of the Uses of Manfreda and Prochnyanthes — Verhoek S. · 1978 · http://www.jstor.org/stable/4253919 ↩︎