Key to Agave
View taxon page for Agave
(For a list of species in Agave, use the above link.)
Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.
1. Inflorescence raceme-like;
filaments white, ± from base of
perianth tube;
leaf 
Organ arising from a stem, generally composed of a stalk (petiole) and a flat, expanded, green, photosynthetic area (blade); distinguished from a leaflet by the presence in its axil of a bud, branch, thorn, or flower; sometimes with lateral, basal appendages (stipules); either simple (toothed, lobed, or dissected but not divided into leaflets) or compound (divided into leaflets).
tip-spine 4–20 cm
..... A. utahensis 1' Inflorescence panicle-like; filaments yellow, from middle of perianth tube or above; leaf tip-spine 2–4 cm
3. Leaf narrow-ovate; perianth 6–10 cm,
lobes 
1. A major expansion or bulge, such as on the margin of a leaf, sepal, or petal, or on the surface of an ovary. 2. The free tips of otherwise fused structures, such as sepals or petals; larger than teeth.
17–40 mm;
fruit 5.5–7 cm; s SCo (sw San Diego Co.)
..... A. shawii var. shawii 3' Leaf lance-linear to
lanceolate 
Narrowly elongate, widest in the basal half, often tapered to an acute tip.
; perianth 3–6 cm, lobes 13–20 mm; fruit 3–6 cm; DMtns (San Bernardino Co.), DSon
..... A. deserti 4. Perianth tube 3–5 mm, bell-shaped; filaments ± from top of perianth tube;
rosettes 
A radiating cluster of leaves generally at or near ground level.
many; DSon
..... var. deserti 4' Perianth tube (3)5–10 mm,
funnel-shaped 
Widening from the base more or less gradually through the throat into an ascending, spreading, or recurved limb; often applied to a fused calyx or corolla.
; filaments from above middle of perianth tube;
rosette A radiating cluster of leaves generally at or near ground level.
1; DMtns (San Bernardino Co.)
..... var. simplex
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