Agave parryi

Agave parryi, known as Parry's agave or mescal agave, is a flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, and a slow-growing succulent perennial native to Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico. Its leaves are grey-green with a spine at the tip that is typically dark tan, brown, or black and darker than the leaf itself, with indentations from previous leaves visible on the back of each leaf. The Huachuca variety grows in a rosette pattern up to about two and a half feet in diameter and, because of its compact size and low water and maintenance needs, is considered a good plant for desert residential landscaping in full sun; it is hardy to roughly minus five degrees Fahrenheit, with some specimens reported surviving minus twenty. Parry's agave is evergreen and monocarpic: a mature plant produces a twelve-foot flowering stalk studded with bright yellow blooms and then dies, having put all its energy into flowering and pollination. It is nonetheless one of the most prolific Agave species and is easily propagated by removing side shoots or digging up rhizomatous plantlets. The plant has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.