century plant

noun

1. any New World plant of the genus Agave, requiring many years to mature and blooming once before dying, especially the widely cultivated species A. americana, having leaves in a basal rosette and a tall flower stalk.

century plant

noun

1. Also called: American aloe. an agave, Agave americana, native to tropical America but naturalized elsewhere, having very large spiny greyish leaves and greenish flowers on a tall fleshy stalk. It blooms only once in its life, after 10 to 30 years (formerly thought to flower after a century)

Word History and Origins

Origin of century plant¹

An Americanism dating back to 1755–65

Example Sentences

Not only are century plants seldom seen in Luthersville, Primack said, but the plant itself is “very unusual looking,” which draws attention to it.

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The rabbit zigged one last time around a scruffy boulder, ducked under an ancient century plant and stopped—dead—directly beneath the mare.

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The agave, a type of century plant, lives a long life — then blooms once and dies.

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Although it is known as the century plant, the American agave typically lives 10 to 30 years.

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The thread used in making this lace is spun from the fiber of the leaves of the aloe, a plant resembling somewhat the century plant.

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