What kind of agave is this?

[Sandy Loam]

Please disregard the yucca guatemalensis tree which these agaves are growing at the base of. What kind of agave are these pupping plants in the photo? 

[Sandy Loam]

.... Continued:  This photo shows the fruit, which might help with your identification. Thank you in advance! 

[Silas_Sancona]

6 minutes ago, Sandy Loam said:

.... Continued:  This photo shows the fruit, which might help with your identification. Thank you in advance! 

Bromelia pinguin Old skool terrestrial Bromeilad planted all over FL.  Fruit ( what you're seeing there ) are supposedly edible, but only after processing, and in small amounts. 

As you can see, leaves are armed, and pretty nasty -when trying to clean up.

[Merlyn]

One of my neighbors has these.  And they are also along one side of the bike trail where I ride every day.  I *briefly* considered growing these but decided that the blood loss might not be worth it. 

[hbernstein]

Bromelia species, not an agave, but a bromeliad. Most likely B. pinguin. Stunning when blooming, nasty, nasty, nasty at any time!

[Silas_Sancona]

17 minutes ago, hbernstein said:

Bromelia species, not an agave, but a bromeliad. Most likely B. pinguin. Stunning when blooming, nasty, nasty, nasty at any time!

Yep, ...Anything that will deter Cattle is definitely  "a spiny beast" ..Would be a great Cat barrier too.

[hbernstein]

They are much stiffer-leaved and better looking in sunny locations. They make a perfectly dangerous property barrier and are quite the challenge to eradicate without getting hurt!

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, hbernstein said:

They are much stiffer-leaved and better looking in sunny locations. They make a perfectly dangerous property barrier and are quite the challenge to eradicate without getting hurt!

That's the truth..  There were some growing in an abandoned field near my old apartment in Largo and cut the heck out of my legs trying to cut cross through a section of it.. About as bad ( perhaps worse, lol ) as Himalayan Black Berry.

Decent-sized clump of B. pinguin ..or one of it's relatives growing in a garden here and while the clump does widen, it doesn't seem to send out ratoons quite as fast as they do there.. That clump at least.. 

Sits next to a big, Glochid-filled Opuntia, and extra spiny Cylindropuntia in the same bed.. What joy that would be stumbling into in the dark.

[Darold Petty]

Everyone knows that chollas jump across the trail to attack !    

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Darold Petty said:

Everyone knows that chollas jump across the trail to attack !    

Yep, same "everyone" that sees someone taking pictures of native plants while on a hike and asks " You must not be from around here"  even though they themselves are obvious transplants from the Midwest  ..A very prevalent "mindset" around Phoenix..  Contrast that with a very opposite mindset in Tucson, where people will show you pictures of.. and tell you where to go to find plants..  Interesting that some of the same people -with fairly decent local plant knowledge- are transplants as well..

[Tracy]

3 hours ago, hbernstein said:

They are much stiffer-leaved and better looking in sunny locations. They make a perfectly dangerous property barrier and are quite the challenge to eradicate without getting hurt!

I had problems with tagging on my side wall after I replaced the hedge and fence with block.  My solution for one section was transplanting some tall Aechmea's along it's base to either deter the taggers from getting too close or at least have them donate a little flesh & blood.  It worked as the tagging stopped.  I gradually replaced them with Aloe marlothii, Encephalartos ituriensis and a couple of Encephalartos whitelockii x sclavoi hybrids which have done an equal job of encouraging the taggers to keep their distance. 

Bottom line,  flesh eating bromeliads can fill a much needed role for border patrol.

[Sandy Loam]

Thanks everyone. These bromeliads are free for the taking in case you are interested. Just message me . Thanks! I would love to see them gone.