Agave stricta

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

| image2 = Agave stricta Eze.jpg

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=García-Mendoza, A.J. |author2=Sandoval-Gutiérrez, D. |author3=Torres-García, I. |author4=Casas, A. |date=2019 |title=Agave stricta |volume=2019 |page=e.T115698101A116354518 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T115698101A116354518.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}

| image = Agave stricta Monaco.jpg

| genus = Agave

| species = stricta

| authority = Salm-Dyck

| synonyms = *Agave echinoides Jacobi

• Agave striata var. echinoides Baker
• Agave striata fo. stricta (Salm-Dyck) Voss
• Agave striata subsp. stricta (Salm-Dyck) B.Ullrich
• Agave striata var. stricta (Salm-Dyck) Baker
• Agave striata var. stricta (Salm-Dyck) Voss
• Bonapartea stricta (Salm-Dyck) Vukot.

| synonyms_ref = [http://www.tropicos.org/Name/50182676?tab=synonyms Tropicos, Agave stricta][http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-294242 The Plant List, Agave stricta]

}}

Agave stricta, the hedgehog agave, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Puebla and Oaxaca in Southern Mexico.Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck, Joseph Franz Maria Anton Hubert. Bonplandia 7: 94. 1859. Growing to {{convert|50|cm|0|abbr=on}} tall, it is an evergreen succulent with rosettes of narrow spiny leaves producing erect racemes, {{convert|2|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} long, of reddish purple flowers in summer.{{cite book|title=RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants|year=2008|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|location=United Kingdom|isbn=978-1405332965|pages=1136}}Gentry, Howard Scott. Agaves of Continental North America. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1982. The foliage may develop a red tinge in the summer.

The Latin specific epithet stricta means erect, or upright.{{cite book|last=Harrison|first=Lorraine|title=RHS Latin for gardeners|year=2012|publisher=Mitchell Beazley|location=United Kingdom|isbn=9781845337315|pages=224}}

As this plant is known to produce pincushion-like offsets, or "pups", as it grows{{Cite web |title=Agave stricta |url=https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/agave-stricta/ |access-date=2021-04-29 |website=BBC Gardeners' World Magazine |language=en}}—an unusually polycarpic trait among the Agaves (a highly monocarpic group of plants)—a team of Mexican biologists and botanists proposed the formation of a new genus, Echinoagave, in January 2024. This would lead to a new (or synonymous) genus and species name of Echinoagave stricta, in addition to the potential reclassifying of ten or eleven other species.{{Cite web |last=Bock |first=Gerhard |date=29 March 2024 |title=Echinoagave, Paleoagave, Paraagave, oh my |url=https://www.succulentsandmore.com/2024/03/echinoagave-paleoagave-paraagave-oh-my.html?showComment=1711815333056 |access-date=19 May 2024 |website=Succulents and More}} Other species considered for placement into Echinoagave include Agave albopilosa and Agave striata. The name is derived from the Greek word for "spiny", echînos.

Similarly to many succulents, A. stricta thrives on air flow, good lighting and well-drained, mostly inert substrates, and may develop root rot if overwatered.{{Cite web |last=Christina |date=2019-04-12 |title=How To Grow Agave Stricta |url=https://insideherbgardens.com/how-to-grow-agave-stricta.php |access-date=2021-04-29 |website=Inside Herb Gardens |language=en-US}} With a minimum preferred temperature of {{convert|10|C|F|abbr=on}}, this plant requires dry and well-lit conditions, ranging from room-temperature to warm, during winter in temperate regions; in appropriate climates, it may be grown outdoors in full- or part-sun year-round, or during the spring and summer months, provided that excessive precipitation does not flood its roots. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - Agave stricta|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/119423/Agave-stricta/Details | accessdate=23 February 2020}}{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = November 2018 | page = 3 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | website = www.rhs.org | accessdate = 27 February 2020}}