We have 50 or more large Century Plants on our property. I'm not sure how it got its name (century plant) because it typically only lives 20 to 30 years. It is an agave with leaves up to 7 feet long and very sharp points at their ends. (Drawn blood several times over the years). It flowers only once and at the end of its life. The stalk shoots up what seems like overnight. I know of no other plant (at least in North American) that grows so quickly. It can reach up to 26 feet high in a matter of weeks. The stalk produces a cyme of yellow flowers. At its base the stalk can have a diameter of five inches and is as strong as a tree trunk. The plant then dies but typically leaves "babies" near its base.
The stalk provides viewing platforms for a wide variety of birds. In addition to the Gilded Flicker (below) I have photographed Northern Mockingbird, Black Tailed Gnatcatcher, Gila and Ladderback Woodpeckers, Mourning and White Winged Doves, Red Tail and Coopers Hawks, Cardinals, Phainopeplas, Pyrrhuloxias, Orioles, and others on these stalks.
As you can see from the photo you can get a lot of detail:
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| Gilded Flicker |
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