Century Plants

The Century Plant is an agave that is ubiquitous to the desert southwest. The plant gets it's name from that fact that it is slow to bloom and only blooms at the end of it's life.  However, once it blooms, it produces small plants that will grow into new agave plants.

When it blooms, it sends up a tall stalk topped with blooms.  Sometimes they can be 25 to 30 feet tall.

The one in the top photo  was bent over.  I haven't seen that happen before unless there is something stunting it's growth.

The blooms start out looking like this.

Then they turn an orange color at the tips.

And, finally they open up to these yellow blooms.

They really are a stately looking plant and interesting to watch as the blooms progress!