Pronounciation: A-GAV-e par-vi-FLOR-a

Hardiness zones
Sunset 12-24
USDA 9-11

Landscape Use: Desert and xeric gardens borders, rock gardens, patio containers, textural accent, desert speciemen gardens, visually compelling accent agace for smaller landscape spaces and close human observation.

Form & Character: Stout, stiff, symmetrical, rosetting, exquisitely interesting and cute, dry.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, fibrous, herbaceous perennial, monocarpic, slow to moderate growth to only 10 inches tall and 8 inches wide, leaves strongly whorled, grows tightly arranged basal offshoots (called 'ramets' or 'chupones').

Foliage/Texture: Narrow, stiff, strap-shaped leaves that taper to a sharp point, slightly cupped, dark to greenish-grey with prominent whitish bud markings, leaf margins strongly filamentatious, 3 to 6 inches long; medium coarse texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Racemes of greensish-yellow small funnel-shaped flowers on stalks after 10 to 15 years; fruits rare.

Seasonal Color: None

Temperature: Tolerant

Light: Full sun to partially-filtered, light shade. In Phoenix, avoid highly reflective western exposures during summer to prevent sunburn injury during summer.

Soil: Tolerant, but in Phoenix grows best in a well-drained soil.

Watering: Little to none once established. Occassional summer water if summer monsoon rains fail to materialize.

Pruning: None

Propagation: Division of basal offshoots, seed when available.

Disease and pests: Black root rot (Thielaviopsis basicola) if soils are maintained chronically damp, moist or wet.

Additional comments: This small agave is a 'must have' for any local agave collector. Unfortunately, it's so sought after that its native populations, only a few dozen locales remaining, are under pressure.

Taxonomic tidbits: Agave parviflora was first described and named by John Torrey in 1859. The specific epithet parviflora means "small flowers".