The Queen Agave, Agave victoria-reginae, named by botanist Thomas Moore in 1875 after Britain’s monarch, is endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico. It is perhaps the most striking desert succulent, with thick deep green leaves beautifully marked with white lines. This species takes between 20 to 30 years to mature and produce its spectacular flower, and once it does, the plant promptly dies. To get a sense of how flowering can exhaust a plant to death, take a look at this time-lapse film of the Queen Agave.
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