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ID: furcraea?


Tracy

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A couple of years ago, I was at Quail Botanical Garden (now San Diego Botanical) for a sale, and bought some Adenium, and the vendor gave me a couple of small seeds.  I think he said they were Furcraea.  Somehow the seeds ended up getting lost, and I think one ended up in my garden.  I think this "volunteer" is in fact from one of the two seedlings.  I often put volunteers in my garden in pots to see what they grow into and make a decision later on whether to put in the recycle bin, give away or keep.

That said, anyone recognize this plant and am I correct that is some species of Furcraea?  I appreciate any feedback and if you can identify, any growth characteristics (overall size, blooms, monocarpic).

20171002-104A7660.jpg

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33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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Hi, Tracy.

There are indeed furcraeas that look like that. So do young Beschorneria yuccoides. The arborescent furcraeas that mimic yuccas, like Furcraea quicheensis, etc. have very fine sandpaper-like leaf surfaces.

Time will tell, but if the seller actually flowered the plant, he'd know. Either way, plants will take up space.

J

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I don't think it's beschorneria. I have yuccoides and albiflora and the leaves are not as glossy as your plant's leaves there, nor do they have the undulation along the edges. Beschorneria leaves are flexible and soft - like Joseph's photo shows there. Your plant does have the form of my furcraea foetida - minus the variegation. 

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On 10/10/2017, 9:53:37, Jdiaz31089 said:

Your plant does have the form of my furcraea foetida - minus the variegation. 

When you get a chance, take a picture of your F foetida and post it.  I appreciate Joseph's post of his Beschorneria yuccoides, as I can now see the floppiness of the leaves, which as you point out, mine does not have.

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33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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On 10/10/2017, 9:53:37, Jdiaz31089 said:

Your plant does have the form of my furcraea foetida - minus the variegation. 

When you get a chance, take a picture of your F foetida and post it.  I appreciate Joseph's post of his Beschorneria yuccoides, as I can now see the floppiness of the leaves, which as you point out, mine does not have.

33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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12 hours ago, Tracy said:

When you get a chance, take a picture of your F foetida and post it.  I appreciate Joseph's post of his Beschorneria yuccoides, as I can now see the floppiness of the leaves, which as you point out, mine does not have.

I'll get a picture of it today

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On 10/11/2017, 7:08:44, Tracy said:

When you get a chance, take a picture of your F foetida and post it.  I appreciate Joseph's post of his Beschorneria yuccoides, as I can now see the floppiness of the leaves, which as you point out, mine does not have.

This is my furcraea

20171014_094419.thumb.png.ac6e3e7d0b6744

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1 hour ago, Jdiaz31089 said:

This is my furcraea

20171014_094419.thumb.png.ac6e3e7d0b6744

What a beauty! I've been tempted to get one but I doubt if they could take full summer sun and cold winters here in Sacramento! I'm sticking with Beschorneria yuccoides 'Flamingo Glow’ for now, since it's so hardy and has a similar habit and look to it. 

Edited by Hillizard
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5 hours ago, Jdiaz31089 said:

This is my furcraea

20171014_094419.thumb.png.ac6e3e7d0b6744

Very nice!  Yes, yours and mine seem to have the same leaf structure, and where mine has some variation in the green tones, yours is fully variegated.

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33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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On 10/14/2017, 11:23:10, Hillizard said:

What a beauty! I've been tempted to get one but I doubt if they could take full summer sun and cold winters here in Sacramento! I'm sticking with Beschorneria yuccoides 'Flamingo Glow’ for now, since it's so hardy and has a similar habit and look to it. 

Isn't it? the variegation makes it really stand out. I think they handle sun pretty well. Heavy frost can damage them though, so some canopy helps out with that. I tried Flamingo glow and it didn't make it in full sun, unfortunately. It burned and was reduced to a single cluster of center leaves, then continued to decline and died. 

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Looks like green F. foetida to me. Some get teeth on margins as older plants; some don't.

SoCal and SoFla; zone varies by location.

'Home is where the heart suitcase is'...

_____

"If, as they say, there truly is no rest for the wicked, how can the Devil's workshop be filled with idle hands?"

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  • 2 years later...

An updated photo of the plant which I still haven't labeled in my photos of it.  At some point I should put it in the ground somewhere but don't really have a space for it right now.

20191129-104A5069.jpg

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33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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  • 2 years later...
On 10/10/2017 at 9:53 AM, Jdiaz31089 said:

Your plant does have the form of my furcraea foetida - minus the variegation. 

 

On 12/2/2019 at 4:56 PM, Tracy said:

At some point I should put it in the ground somewhere but don't really have a space for it right now.

It has become quite apparent that this is a Furcraea foetida as it has grown.  Now my dilemma of where to plant it has really cracked open, literally speaking.  It's popped a crack in the pot I've been growing it in over these past few years.  If it were staying the same size, I might just drop it in the ground where it now sits, but since it would just get larger and outgrow this spot, I need another solution. 

I'm wondering how long from this size before they bloom?  Since these are in the same family as Agave's I assume the plant will die back after blooming, but didn't see anything about on the few websites selling them that I looked at.

20220217-BH3I6943.jpg

20220217-BH3I6942.jpg

33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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@Tracy my understanding is that all Furcraea are monocarpic, i.e. they die after blooming.  Almost all agaves are the same, though Manfreda (recently moved into Agave) are not...I think.  :D My variegated Foetida is about 7-8 feet in diameter.  Er...well...it was until the 24F with frost.  Now it's about 2 feet in diameter because all the large leaves burned to a crisp.  It'll survive, but might "stress bloom" before it gets back to normal size again.  It varies a bit plant-to-plant, but I think the typical mature/blooming diameter is around 8-12 feet.  They are big and awesome plants!

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I lost my full size varigated F foetida to some sort of beetle.  It burrowed into the plant.  I did not notice this until the plant fell over.  When i inspected the plant, there were 3/4 inch holes near the ground.  I chopped the plant and saw big, fat grubs inside.  Immediately i thought about the palm beetle pest because my bismarkia was about 7 feet away.  Luckily they did not attack the bismarkia.

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On 12/2/2019 at 4:56 PM, Tracy said:

An updated photo of the plant which I still haven't labeled in my photos of it.  At some point I should put it in the ground somewhere but don't really have a space for it right now.

20191129-104A5069.jpg

This Frucraea is super easy to grow.  You don't even have to try.  After it flowers, the bulbs or whatever they are called will grow easily anywhere.  I had this problem and had to remove any bulbs on the ground.  After this experience, I chopped off the flower stalk before they form bulbs.

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Oh yeah, I removed all of this type of Frucraea from my yard.  They are really fast grower.  Hmmm... I lied.  I still have 2 stumps.  A couple of bulbs did not manage to reach the ground.  They are growing on one of the stumps.

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