Common Names: golden century plant. Agave chrysantha. See discussion at the Century Plant description.
Habitat: an icon of the Sonoran desert.
Flowers: Each rosette is monocarpic and grows slowly to flower only once. During flowering a tall stem or "mast" grows from the center of the leaf rosette and bears a large number of "cups" dense, short (3" - 4") tubular flowers.
Description: Succulent, Subshrub, Shrub, Herb, Perennial. A large rosette of thick fleshy leaves generally ending in a sharp point and with a spiny margin to 3' tall; the stout stem is usually short, the leaves apparently springing from the root. After development of fruit the original plant dies, but suckers are frequently produced from the base of the stem which become new plants.
Comments: Agaves are succulent plants of a large botanical genus of the same name, belonging to the family Agavaceae. Source Wikipedia.