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century plant
century plantn. See agave.century plant n (Plants) an agave, Agave americana, native to tropical America but naturalized elsewhere, having very large spiny greyish leaves and greenish flowers on a tall fleshy stalk. It blooms only once in its life, after 10 to 30 years (formerly thought to flower after a century). Also called: American aloe cen′tury plant` n. a desert agave, Agave americana, having a tall flower stalk emerging from a rosette of leaves, that requires a decade or more to mature and blooms only once. [1755–65, Amer.] ThesaurusNoun | 1. | century plant - tropical American plants with basal rosettes of fibrous sword-shaped leaves and flowers in tall spikes; some cultivated for ornament or for fiberagave, American aloeAgavaceae, agave family, family Agavaceae, sisal family - chiefly tropical and xerophytic plants: includes Dracenaceae (Dracaenaceae); comprises plants that in some classifications are divided between the Amaryllidaceae and the LiliaceaeAgave americana, American agave - widely cultivated American monocarpic plant with greenish-white flowers on a tall stalk; blooms only after ten to twenty years and then diesAgave sisalana, sisal - Mexican or West Indian plant with large fleshy leaves yielding a stiff fiber used in e.g. ropeAgave cantala, cantala, maguey - Philippine plant yielding a hard fibre used in making coarse twineAgave atrovirens, maguey - Mexican plant used especially for making pulque which is the source of the colorless Mexican liquor, mescalAgave tequilana - Mexican plant used especially for making tequiladracaena - an agave that is often cultivated for its decorative foliageNolina microcarpa, bear grass - stemless plant with tufts of grasslike leaves and erect panicle of minute creamy white flowers; southwestern United States and Mexicosansevieria, bowstring hemp - grown as a houseplant for its mottled fleshy sword-shaped leaves or as a source of fiberdesert plant, xerophile, xerophilous plant, xerophyte, xerophytic plant - plant adapted for life with a limited supply of water; compare hydrophyte and mesophyte |
century plant
century plant: see amaryllisamaryllis , common name for some members of the Amaryllidaceae, a family of mostly perennial plants with narrow, flat leaves and with lilylike flowers borne on separate, leafless stalks. ..... Click the link for more information. . agave agaveA desert emergency food used for production of sugar and syrup. Common landscaping ornamental plant, looks like Aloe, but thicker leaves, (not related to aloe) sometimes more bluish or grey-green, or whitish sharp spikes. When it flowers, a thick vertical stem shoots out of the middle straight up, (sometimes to 40ft!) (12m) with clusters of tubular yellow-green flowers which are edible. They take a long time until they flower, sometimes years. These center stalks are edible when young. Leave a hole where the stalk used to be and it will fill with sap, “agave syrup”, a sweetener. The “heart” is edible- the clump between leaves and root. Leaves can be eaten but aren’t that great NOTE: juice is caustic and can cause skin rash and burn eyes. Best to cook or roast the leaves, then eat, spitting out the fiber. Juice can be boiled to make soap that lathers. Sap is antiseptic, used for diarrhea, dysentery, constipation, diuretic. Root can be boiled and eaten but handle carefully when raw- quite caustic. Roots used to treat syphilis. Unlike other plants, agaves are better the older they get. Seeds, roots, heart can be ground into flour. Water in which agave leaf fiber has been soaked for a day can be used as a scalp disinfectant and tonic for people losing hair. Steroid drug precursors are obtained from the leaves. Edible ones- americana, atrovirens, cantala, chrysantha, complicata, crassipina, deserti, palmeri, paryi, salmiana, scabra, shawii, sisalana, tequilana, utahensis. Non edible- A. lechuguilla.Century Plant any one of several succulent, rarely blossoming ornamental plants of the genus Aloe or, less commonly, the genus Agave. MedicalSeeagavecentury plant
Synonyms for century plantnoun tropical American plants with basal rosettes of fibrous sword-shaped leaves and flowers in tall spikesSynonymsRelated Words- Agavaceae
- agave family
- family Agavaceae
- sisal family
- Agave americana
- American agave
- Agave sisalana
- sisal
- Agave cantala
- cantala
- maguey
- Agave atrovirens
- Agave tequilana
- dracaena
- Nolina microcarpa
- bear grass
- sansevieria
- bowstring hemp
- desert plant
- xerophile
- xerophilous plant
- xerophyte
- xerophytic plant
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