Tempe, Arizona: Landscaping - Agave Chrysantha In Beachpark Royalty-Free Stock Photography

This 1–2-foot tall by 2–3-foot wide succulent produces a dense, compact rosette of rigid, thorny, sword-like leaves. Agaves grow for several decades producing many offshoots, then send up a towering bloom stalk and die. This species, cold-hardy to –10 F = - 23 C, is favored for landscapes throughout the Southwest. Apaches and other tribes roasted the stem heart and used the long leaf fibers for cordage. Note the tall flower stalk with flat-bottomed clusters of yellow flowers.