Botanics specimen grows 20ft in months, but death will follow

Published on Tuesday 25 May 2010 10:02

IT HAS been waiting for its moment in the sun for decades.

A "century plant" in the glasshouse of Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden has shot up 20ft within a matter of months as it finally begins to bloom.

But while horticulturists are celebrating, there'll be no happy ending for the plant itself – it will now die, exhausted by the effort of creating its towering spike.

The century plant's name might exaggerate its longevity slightly, but the Botanics specimen could be as old as 50.

The Mexican plant, also known as agave mitis, flowers only once in its lifetime, so when indoor horticulturalist Gunnar Ovstebo realised it was preparing to bloom, he knew he was about to see something special.

"I think it's about 20 years old. It could be 50, but it's difficult to tell," he said. "Normally it's just a rosette of leaves, but you could see last year that the heart of it was quite swollen, a sign something's going to happen.

"Before Easter it started, and then went quite quickly and I expected it to be through the roof by Easter time, that's quite normal, but I wonder if it has something to do with the cold weather that it's not got quite so big."

Marketing manager Shaun Hay said: "About six years ago we had one and we had to take the pane out of the glasshouse to let it grow. They let it grow to its full potential and it was about a foot or so above the panes."

The towering spike – which is still growing – has now burst into a bloom of delicate yellow flowers, which will remain for about another two weeks. In the earth beneath its leaves are hidden tiny plantlets which staff will nurture for the future.

But after its brief brush with glory, it will be all over for the agave's "mother plant" Mr Ovstebo said: "It's a slow death. It will dry out and desiccate and it will push all its extra nutrients into the new shoots, so it's a total sacrifice. It could take a year. When you lift the leaves there will often be a dozen or so off-shoots and you can use them."

The plant is a relative of those used to make tequila. There are other, younger samples in storage at the Botanics, but this is the only one on display, and one of very few in Scotland.

Mr Ovstebo said the flowering had been a great event in the glasshouse. He said: "It's very exciting, because they don't really do much otherwise. That's the thing with a job here – you sow seeds that you're never going to see flowering, but someone else will in 50 or 100 years time.

"I've got succulents from 1889 – it might be offshoots or cuttings of the original, but you just think how many people have been handling it and looking at it and taking care of it."