Can you identify this cactus?

[BillK]

I have several pictures here of a cactus - I THOUGHT it was some sort of "sword" cactus - but in the last few days this thing has sprouted a TALL shoot - the shoot is growing by about 8 inches a day - it is now about 5 feet tall and growing rapidly.

Can you identify it?

I THINK thatit is a Agave lechuguilla

Can anyone confirm this? If so it SOUNDS like this shoot is going to be up to 14 feet high? and THEN the plant DIES!

[xzochye]

Could it be a Century Plant?

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/CenturyPlant2007.html

[BillK]

Could it be a Century Plant?

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/CenturyPlant2007.html

OUCH! I sure hope NOT! I will have to kill it first and that would be a SHAME. That is such a beautiful cactus.

Mine is not that tall from the actual plant standpoint - but the flower stalk is already about 4 inches in diameter - that is considerably larger than the plant that I said it MIGHT be usually is. Hence my questioning...

[CenTexDave]

I don't know the real name of it, but like a fool I dug one up out of the woods behind my house and planted it in the front garden. Took over the garden and spread quickly. Now that's all that is growing there. Extremely hard to kill off.
That shoot only sprouts every few years. It will then have beautiful cream colored blossoms/flowers on it, which the deer around here find a delicacy.
By the way, if you haven't already found out - don't bump into it. It bites!

[BillK]

I don't know the real name of it, but like a fool I dug one up out of the woods behind my house and planted it in the front garden. Took over the garden and spread quickly. Now that's all that is growing there. Extremely hard to kill off.
That shoot only sprouts every few years. It will then have beautiful cream colored blossoms/flowers on it, which the deer around here find a delicacy.
By the way, if you haven't already found out - don't bump into it. It bites!

It is beautiful - but YES - it is one NASTY plant if you touch it. VERY pokey and the pokes have some sort of poison in them as well.

When it bloom - how tall does the flower go?

It is VERY agressive about sending out shoots and I am VERY active on killing them so there is only just this ONE.

Thanks for the response.

[CenTexDave]

The flowers will appear off the shoot. They will generally go all the way up the shoot but even if the deer don't munch on them they will bloom and then only last for a few days before they start falling off. The main shoot I've seen grow as high as 10-12+ feet. It's a neat plant.
I've never tried cutting back the other shoots. After the flowers die and drop off the shoot will start to dry out. Within a few weeks it will be hard as a cane pole.

[BillK]

The flowers will appear off the shoot. They will generally go all the way up the shoot but even if the deer don't munch on them they will bloom and then only last for a few days before they start falling off. The main shoot I've seen grow as high as 10-12+ feet. It's a neat plant.
I've never tried cutting back the other shoots. After the flowers die and drop off the shoot will start to dry out. Within a few weeks it will be hard as a cane pole.

OK - I would like to make sure that THIS is the only plant that I EVER have like this - while it is BEAUTIFUL to have it promulgate itself will kill me.

Do I need to chop this off BEFORE it flowers and "seeds" other plants? If not - when do I need to do it?

[Spartan]

From the looks of it it's a Yucca. Certainly not a cactus. Watch out that your grandchildren and dogs stay away and you yourself be very careful. Yuccas have very sharp foliage. When working with them, ensure that you wear protective chain mail gloves when pruning or removing parts of the Yucca plant as she can easily cut off a finger! Other than occasional pruning and trimming, a Yucca plant cares after itself.

[Wireman]

Young Yucca. We have a few of those in front of our place in El Paso. They are GREAT for planting under windows to keep perps out.

[corgifan]

That's not a yucca, it's an agave. Poster is correct. It is an Agave Lechuguilla.

[BillK]

That's not a yucca, it's an agave. Poster is correct. It is an Agave Lechuguilla.

Thanks Corgifan. The stalk is now 133 inches tall and growing. On warm days it grows a foot. On cooler days is grows 6 to 8 inches. With the size of the tip as it is it LOOKS LIKE it should grow another 2 to 3 feet before "blooming"?

[CenTexDave]

I don't have much of a green thumb so I can't say for sure if it's a Yucca or whatever, but I have them in my yard along the woodline and also one in the flower garden. Like a fool I planted it there. Years ago tried to kill it because it kept spreading and reproducing. No luck. It does have that shaft that shoots up 12-20 feet very 5 years or so and then produces pretty cream colored flowers. This plant will also do a job on your if you bump into it. Wireman is right about that. Makes a good security border.

[CenTexDave]

Heeehaaawww............just went outside and looked in my front flower garden. Remember, about the only thing in there are these yuccas or agaves. Started with one a long time ago, it spread and I tried to thin it out and kill it off. No such luck. There are 5 or 6 all clustered together. Just noticed they have all started sprouting the shoots. Some are only 6" tall now, but will grow quickly. This is the first time in probably 5 years I've had a shoot sprout up, and the first time with multiple sprouts.
Once it matures and blooms I'll try and get a pick of it. I'll have to be quick, though, because the deer love to eat the flowers.

[BillK]

This is what the plant looks like now at over 145 inches tall.

[xzochye]

If you guys ever dig these up I will be glad to take them off of your hands! If I plant these in the holes my dog keeps digging around the fence to get out....

[CenTexDave]

I did dig a couple up quite a few years ago when I trying to kill it off. I planted them in a different part of my yard but, alas, they didn't make it. I think I cut through too much of the roots to get it out of there.

[CenTexDave]

This is what the plant looks like now at over 145 inches tall.
OK, Bill, you can quit camouflaging your secret radio antenna.

[BillK]

Got an 80 foot antenna in
My yard already. I hope this does not get that tall.


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[BillK]

Got an 80 foot antenna in
My yard already. I hope this does not get that tall.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Latest picture - this is now 175 inches tall:

[JoAnn Purser]

Latest picture - this is now 175 inches tall:



FEED ME SEYMOUR!!!!!!!

[Scarlett]

I just finally read this thread...glad I did! I have three of these in my back yard...and every year they have shot up those large things...I had no idea it was a cactus...but damn they sure hurt! I am not a fan of these, so if you want them xzochye, feel free to come dig them up! Haha.

[CenTexDave]

That's the tallest one I've seen in years.
I am sad to announce that the plants in my front flower bed all sprouted a stalk this year. First time this has ever happened. Usually one sprouts one year, another the next, etc.
Unfortunately, the deer have declared the stalks as edible as the flowers.

[BillK]

Here is the latest pictures that we have of this wonder plant - it is now about 20 feet tall and we can no longer measure it.
I am including a picture of a close up of the "buds" that are forming near the top.

[Scarlett]

You need to call in the world record people to come measure that! Mine got tall but NOTHING like THAT!

[BillK]

You need to call in the world record people to come measure that! Mine got tall but NOTHING like THAT!

I was thinking that SOMEHOW the paper or the local horticultural society or SOMEONE might be interested - does anyone know who I should report this to? It certainly seems like it is "unusual" in that everyone that sees it says "I have never seen anything like that!"

[CenTexDave]

Don't know who you would report it to, but I've never, ever, seen one that tall.
Congrats.
By the way, what do you feed it? Any small dogs or cats in your neighborhood vanish?

[BillK]

Don't know who you would report it to, but I've never, ever, seen one that tall.
Congrats.
By the way, what do you feed it? Any small dogs or cats in your neighborhood vanish?

I don't "feed" it anything. No fertilizer nothing - it DOES sit immediately under the eaves and we have had a bunch of rain. I don't think that it is supposed to "flower" this quickly - it is only about 5 years or so old.