2022 China New Design Rare Native Plants - Rare Live Plant Royal Agave – HuaLong

Rosettes: 
Individual or sukering, slow growing, dense, up to 45 cm in diameter (but usually rarely grows taller than 22 cm), most populations are solitary, but some offset heavily (forma caespitosa and forma stolonifera).

Leaves: 
Short,15-20 cm long and up to 3 cm broad, rigid and thick, trigonous, dark green, and beautifully marked with brilliant white-margins (The distinct longitudinal white markings are unique, slightly raised, like mini-variegation bordering each leaf) They are toothless, with only a short black, terminal spine. Leaves grow close together and are arranged in globose regular rosettes.

Flower: 
The inflorescence takes the form of a spike, from 2 to 4 metres high, containing many paired flowers of various colours, often with shades of purple red.
Blooming season: Summer. As with all types of Agave it have a long life cycle and sets flowers after approximately 20 to 30 years of vegetative growth, and the effort to produce the flowers exhausts the plant which dies within a short time.

Cultivation and Propagation: 
It requires well-drained soil and light shade to full sun exposure, but they prefer some afternoon shade during the hottest summer month to avoid being fried by sun. It should be kept rather dry in winter or dormant season with minimum temperatures above zero in order to obtain good results, but it will tolerate quite low temperatures ( -10° C), particularly when dry. To give this marvellous plant vigour and life, water well during spring and summer and let it become barely moist between waterings. Along the coast or in areas where there are no frosts, these plants may be cultivated with success outdoors where their beauty is better observed. In cold climates it is adviseable to cultivate these plants in pots in order to protect them during the winter in dry, fresh rooms. Requires good ventilation and avoid over-watering.