Utah Agave (Agave utahensis) is a succulent perennial with short, stout, upright, blue-green leaves that arise from a basal rosette and are well guarded on the edges and tips with spines. In the spring, some plants in a population send up a tall flower stalk that bears many yellow flowers. After a plant blooms, it dies.

Utah Agave is a locally common (not found everywhere, but where found it can be quite common) species of rocky areas in the Mojave Desert in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zone.

Family: Agave (Agavaceae).

Other Names: century plant.

Plant Form: basal rosette with tall flowering stalk.

Height: Basal leaves to about knee-high, but flowering stalk 6-12 feet.

Trunk: none.

Leaves: Long daggers with spines along the edges and a sharp tip.

Flowers: Blooms in the spring or early summer. Inflorescence a spike. Flowers large, yellowish, and waxy.

Seeds:

Elevation: About 3,000 to 6,000 ft.

Distribution: California to Utah and Arizona.

Comments: Judging from the number of agave roasting pits around the desert, these must have been more common at one time.

In southern Nevada, there are three varieties of Utah Agave:

• Utah Agave (Agave utahensis var. utahensis)
• Ivory-spined Agave (Agave utahensis var. eborispina)
• Clark Mountain Agave (Agave utahensis var. nevadensis)

In addition, there is another variety of Utah Agave in southern Utah and northern Arizona:

• Kaibab agave (Agave utahensis var. kaibabensis).

The three varieties in Nevada can be identified by a combination of characters, including the size of the lateral spines, the length and color of the terminal spine, and to some extent location.

*Note: the literature conflicts on some details here.