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Agave cremnophila (Sea Urchin Agave) A small clustering succulent with 1 to 2 foot tall by 2 to nearly 3-foot-wide rosettes with many flat 1/2 to inch wide mid to dark green lanceolate leaves that are finely serrated. The flowers, which have appeared in cultivation in late spring and early summer, are yellow green and held tight to 4 to 5 feet long arching spicate inflorescences. After flowering the mature rosette lingers longer than many other agave and new shoots sprout from the base A nice smaller clustering agave in the Striatae group that most closely resembles Agave dasylirioides, but while Agave dasylirioides has a solitary rosette, Agave cremnophila form clusters and has greener leaves.
Agave cremnophila is found growing naturally on steep cliffs along the Cerro de las Flores, high above the loop road north of Santiago Lachiguiri ,Oaxaca. It was grown from seed sourced from RarePalmSeed.com since around 2009 under the name Agave sp. nov. Oaxaca, indicating it was an undescribed new species, but was officially described by Greg Starr, Julia Etter and Martin Kristen in the January-February 2018 issue of the Cactus and Succulent JournalA recent paper titled "New Genera and New Combinations in Agavaceae (Asparagales)" in the journal Phytoneuron by José Antonio Vázquez-García, Leccinum Jesús García Morales, ales-Martínez, J Padilla-Lepe, Gerardo Hernández-Vera and C. Santiago Rosales-Martínez proposed to take this species out of the genus agave and placing it in the genus Echinoagave, meaning "hedgehog agave" from the Greek prefix 'ekhinos' meaning "prickly' or "spiny" and the Greek suffix 'agauós' meaning "illustrious" or "noble" in reference to the shape of the spiny rosettes of these species that resembles a hedgehog shape. If accepted, this will make the new name of this taxon Echinoagave cremnophila.
The information about Agave cremnophila that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
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