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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Agavaceae (now Asparagaceae) |
| Origin: North America |
| Red/Purple Foliage: Yes |
| Variegated Foliage: Yes |
| Flower Color: Cream |
| Bloomtime: Spring/Summer |
| Fragrant Flowers: Yes |
| Synonyms: [Agave strictata, A.maculosa, Polianthes maculosa] |
| Height: <1 foot |
| Width: 4-6 feet |
| Exposure: Sun or Shade |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 0-10° F |
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Manfreda maculosa (Texas Tuberose) - A particularly nice and robust form of this deciduous succulent perennial. It grows nearly flat to the ground, forming a rosette of fleshy, narrow one-foot-long, soft sword-shaped dull-green leaves that are heavily marked with round reddish-purple to dark brown spots. In the spring appear long spikes, to 6 feet tall, bearing mildly fragrant 2" cream to greenish-white flowers that age to a rose pink. Plant in full sun to light shade in a well-drained soil and regular, to little or no irrigation. Plants look best if planted in full sun and allowed to dry out prior to the next irrigation. It is noted that this plant can survive even the driest years by going drought deciduous. Hardy to 0 (USDA Zone 7). Plant in mass for an interesting groundcover effect and in deep containers that will give adequate space to this plant's extensive root system. Remove older leaves that usually die back in winter. A stunning plant both in foliage and flower. Texas Tuberose is native to sandy scrublands in Southern Texas and in adjacent northern Mexico (In the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas) and is a primary host plant for the rare Manfreda giant skipper butterfly and the rhizomes were used by the indigenous North American people to make soap and shampoo. Some authorities place Manfreda in genus Polianthes, while others group place both genera in Agave such as is done by Joachim Thiede, the author on the Agavaceae in the "Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants; Moncotyledons" edited by Urs Eggli (2001). Others maintain these genera as separate, such as how they are currently (2016) listed on The Plant List, the collaboration between the Missouri (MOBOT) and Kew botanic gardens. The name for the genus honors Manfredus de Monte Imperiale, a 14th-century Italian medical scholar and writer who authored an early important herbal. The specific epithet is the Latin word for "spotted" in reference to the reddish-purple spots on the leaves. Another common name for this plant is spice lily. Our plants are seed grown from stock plants we maintain in our nursery. These plants originated from seed given to us in 2005 by Brian Kemble of the Ruth Bancroft Garden, who collected the seed from plants originally grown by Mountain States Wholesale Nursery. It is a notably larger form of this species.
This information about Manfreda maculosa displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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