For a short window of time, visitors to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium will be in the presence of an unusual sight.
The zoo’s botanical garden has been the home and caretaker to an Agave parryi var. truncata, also referred to as an artichoke agave, for more than 17 years. Now, the plant is blooming for the first and only time over the next few weeks, a rare sight in Washington state, far from its natural habitat, Point Defiance Zoo lead horticulturist Bryon Jones told The News Tribune on Thursday.
“This plant is definitely an uncommon sight in the Northwest, and super uncommon to see one actually blooming that you can actually see in a public setting,” Jones said.
According to the University of Arizona Campus Arboretum, the artichoke agave is an evergreen, perennial succulent part of the asparagus family — or asparagaceae — that presents with a blue-gray hue and pointy, toothed leaves growing in rosettes. Agave parryi var. truncata is native to central Mexico, but can also be found in the mountainous areas of the desert southwest, including in Arizona and New Mexico, he said.
Artichoke agave plants typically take 15-20 years to reach maturity, at which point they bloom for one time only before dying, Jones said. During a bloom, the agave will grow a single stalk from its center — Jones said he had first noticed the beginning of the stalk around May 6 and estimated that this agave has reached about nine feet in height, meaning it could still grow taller in the coming weeks. The plant is just inside the zoo’s main entrance.
The zoo acquired the plant from a local nursery in Tacoma about 17 years ago, when the plant was the size of a softball — it is likely around 20 years old now, Jones said, adding that he has been working at the zoo’s botanical garden for about 20 years and anticipating its bloom…