- Ag. sp. FO-076 /
sp. Sierra Mixteca at Rio Capala
- (photo courtesy of
Bertus Spee)
- There have been
plants doing the rounds as Agave titanota ( see above pictures
) but quite unlike the plant defined by Gentry which has bluish-white
leaves and found in habitat at Rancho Tambor in Oaxaca. It has
been debated for some time as to whether these plants are a separate
entity or simply a green form of titanota. There are also bluish
forms of these plants. The situation is further complicated by
the fact that both forms hybridise with each other and also with
agave kerchovei.
- They have appeared
as sp. FO-076, sp. Sierra Mixteca , sp. Nr.1 and more recently
as horrida ssp.oteroi. As they has been found occasionally growing
alongside plants similar to the true titanota they were thought
by some to represent a variant in a highly polymorphic and variable
species. However there has been a very recent well written travelogue
to Oaxaca written up by Greg Starr et al. in which a visit to
Rancho Tambor is described.
- It is to be
foundt at http://www.agaveville.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4356.
This excellent forum called Agaveville has a section called Agavaceae
Talk in which this item appears plus further threads discussing
the issue.
- The true ,white
leaved titanota, as described by Gentry was found at that location
but the 'green titanota' disappeared on the trail, well short
of reaching Rancho Tambor. The pendulum thus appears to swing
in favour of the name titanota being applied only as per Gentry.
- It was reported
that a second location has been found for agave titanota, so
Rancho Tambor no longer appears to be the sole habitat for these
plants. Currently no further details are available until studies
are complete.
- The very latest
development is that the green leaved form has been described
as Agave oteroi by Greg Starr in the Summer 2019 issue
of Cactus and Succulent Journal (Vol. 91 N. 2).
-
- (photos courtesy
of Greg Starr)
-
-
