''Agave victoriae-reginae'', the

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

agave or royal agave, is a small

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

flowering

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

, noted for its streaks of white on sculptured geometrical leaves, and popular as an ornamental. This agave is highly variable in form, but in general the rosettes are small and compact, growing to 0.5m, composed of short, rigid, thick leaves that are green with a pattern of distinctive white markings. The markings are generally along leaf keels or margins, giving a sort of polyhedral appearance. Marginal teeth are usually lacking, while the terminus of the leaf may include 1 to 3 spines, each 1.5–3 cm in length. Cream coloured flowers are borne in erect

racemes A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

up to 4m in length. ''A. victoriae-reginae'' is found in the

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lo ...

in the Mexican States of

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

and

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. Wit ...

, with about a half-dozen subspecies named. The situation is complicated by hybrids with a number of other agave species. Although it faces some local threats, the population of the species as a whole is stable, and it is not considered by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

to be threatened. It is cold-hardy as agaves go, and thus finds favor as a small accent in many northerly gardens. However it is recommended in the UK that this plant be kept in heated conditions under glass during winter. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. When grown as a houseplant, it is best planted in a very porous, sandy soil and given direct sunlight or bright shade. The soil should be permitted to dry out between waterings. The plant need only be repotted about every two to three years. Propagation is normally by seed, since the plant rarely produces basal shoots. Image:Agave victoriae-reginae Plant 3000px.jpg, Plant Image:Agave victoriae-reginae Closeup 2000px.jpg, Leaf closeup Image:AgaveVictoriaeReginaeBloom.jpg, In bloom

References

victoriae-reginae Endemic flora of Mexico Flora of the Chihuahuan Desert Flora of Coahuila Flora of Durango Flora of Nuevo León Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants {{Asparagaceae-stub