This hardy agave, which can stand temperatures down to 15°F, is in the specimen beds nearest the solar field. It can tolerate shade but prefers sun. With rosettes of straight narrow toothless leaves, growing 2 to 3 feet tall, it resembles a yucca. Like the yucca, it has been harvested for its leaf fibers, which gives it its name meaning fiber or cord.
It will grow an 8-foot tall stalk at its end of life with yellow blooms. Unlike other agaves, it does not form clones or offsets.
Native to Sonora, Mexico, this agave seems to prefer rocky slopes at an elevation between 1,500 and 4,500 feet.
