Manfreda/Agave virginica

Kelly D. Norris kellydn@frontiernet.net
Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:37:05 PDT
I've been following this thread on Manfreda with interest.  

 

I botanized the Ozarks last June and found a lot of interesting variation in
M. virginica in the wild, as Aaron notes below.  On most glades where we
were, flower stalks were just forming, but looked like they would top out in
the 4-5' range.  The foliar maculation was superb though, and I collected a
couple of forms with lots of red from the base to the apex of the leaf.
Some looked like you dropped a paint ball in the center.  

 

I potted them up and held them in a cold house over the winter.  This year
the foliage has yet to really take on the intensity of the red coloration we
observed last year, making me wonder if this trait is really genetic of
merely phenotypically plastic.  I'm planning to grow them in containers for
a few more seasons before trialing them for hardiness here.  I've had mixed
success in the past.

 

--kdn

Horticulturally,

 

Kelly D. Norris

M.S. Student, Iowa State University

Read my blog at:  <http://www.kellydnorris.com/> http://www.kellydnorris.com/

Twitter: rainbowirisfarm

 

<<Message: 9

Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 09:45:50 -0700 (PDT)

From: aaron floden <aaron_floden@yahoo.com>

To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>

Subject: Re: [pbs] Manfreda/Agave virginica

Message-ID: <260822.73823.qm@web34304.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

 

?Manfreda virginica is highly fragrant, especially in the evenings. I was
just in the Ouachita's (of Arkansas) and saw about 300-400 stems in flower
along a roadside in a very small area about 100 sq feet. These plants were
about 4 feet in height. In east TX I saw some scattered plants in a
powerline ROW that were nearly 8 feet and strictly upright. In the garden,
my Tennessee forms are usually about 6 feet and arching.

 

?The species varies a lot. The leaf maculation and habit is something to
watch for. Most forms have faint red at their leaf bases, but some are
glaucous-green - these usually flaccid. I have some from the Ozarks that are
relatively stiff leaved, undulate margined and nearly completely red spotted
base to apex.

 

?Aaron

>> 

 


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