17 September 2010

FURCRAEA GIGANTEA 'STRIATA'

It is not often that I see a Furcraea gigantea 'Striata' flowering. In fact, it is known as the Variegated False Agave. The rosette plant from the Amaryllidaceae Family has a lot of presence in a landscape because of its long, hard, sharp-pointed leaves and its ability to grow up to almost 2 m across.

This particular one that flowered recently had its leaves bent downwards, presumably after the apical inflorescence spike grew so fast and straight into the sky. The whole, erect stalk must be at least 6 m since it pierced through the crown of the Yellow Rain Tree.

After pollination, its numerous variegated bulbils would grow bigger in size until such time when it becomes dislodged and drops onto the ground, where it would take root and develops into another new plant.

Typically after flowering and when the bulbils are dispersed, the parent plant would die off after it has done a fantastic job of proliferating its genes.