Agavaceae

Each "thumbnail" image below is linked to a larger photograph.


Agave attenuata.
aga_sp2_fls.jpg (11914 bytes) Agave sp.
Beschornia sp.
Yucca brevifolia, Joshua tree.
Yucca schidigera.
dra_mar_fls.jpg (12208 bytes) Dracaena marginata, money tree, dracaena. Candelabra shrub from Madagascar, with slender, woody stems and tufts of sword-like leaves at the tips. If you plant this by your house, you want the branches to lean toward the walls because supposedly then the money will flow in.
Pleomele auwahiensis, hala pepe. Hawaiian endemic.
Pleomele forbesii, hala pepe. Hawaiian endemic.
Cordyline fruticosa, ti, ki. A woody stemmed candelabra shrub from SE Asia with large green or reddish or brightly variegated leaves, brought to Hawaii by migrating Polynesians. The leaves were used for a variety of purposes, including thatching, rain coats, food wrapping, and hula skirts. The Hawaiians used the root to make a beverage of low alcoholic content. After Cook's time, British sailors taught them how to make a more potent drink (okolehao).
Furcraea foetida, Mauritius hemp. Giant rosette plant from South America with leaves up to 8 feet long, the stem elongating only when the tall (15-30 feet) flowering stalk is produced. Widely cultivated for fiber.
pho_ten_habs.jpg (5420 bytes) Phormium tenax, New Zealand flax, New Zealand hemp.

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