Scientific/Botanical Name:
Genus: Furcraea
Specie: F. foetida
Variety/Cultivar:
English Name:
Common Name:
Giant Cabuya, Green-aloe or Mauritius-hemp, false agave, green aloe, maguey, sisal
Botanical Family:
Name in Latin: Asparagaceae
Name in English: Asparagus Family
The Plant
Origin: Caribbean and northern South America.
Growth Habit: evergreen perennial subshrub, stemless or with a short stem up to 1 m tall.
Flower: The flowers are greenish to creamy white, 4 cm long, and strongly scented; they are produced on a large inflorescence up to 7.5 m tall.
Blooming Period: late summer through fall
Leaf: The leaves are sword-shaped, 1-1.8 m long and 10-15 cm broad at their widest point, narrowing to 6-7 cm broad at the leaf base, and to a sharp spine tip at the apex; the margins are entire or with a few hooked spines.
Usage:
Ornamental Plant. Widely grown for its large striped linear leaves with slight wavy margins. These fleshy leaves, in addition to their attractive bright green to yellow-green coloration
Care and Handling
Soil: A good general purpose potting soil (a soil that retains water yet drains well) with a little added sand
Amount of water: Drench the soil and let it become barely moist between waterings.
Nutrition: Feed only twice a year, once in April and once in July with a water soluble fertilizer.
Special handling:
Special feature/remarks:
The leaves grow or form into a basal rosette starting from the center of this stemless or short-stemmed perennial shrub. In addition to the leaves, Furcraea foetida produces strongly fragrant flowers. These flowers are greenish to creamy-white in color and open a few at a time for several weeks.