Illinois Natural History Survey - University of Illinois

Manfreda virginica
American agave
Taxonomy

Synonyms: Polianthes virginica

Subspecific taxa:

Classification:

  • Magnoliophyta

Other taxonomic & nomenclature sources: USDA Plants;  ITIS;  The Plant List;  IPNI

Images

   
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Species Distribution
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More about map & occurrence records

County Map Legend
Absent:
Not known from county
Medium confidence:
Medium or unknown confidence;
often old records or unverifiable observations
Medium-high confidence:
Often observations by expert botanists
High confidence:
Often vouchered herbarium records
Planted / introduced:
Native species introduced outside historic range,
or only in planted locations within county (e.g., restorations)
Historic / extirpated:
Only historic records for the species; likely extirpated
(Note that this category is not yet functional)

North American distribution maps for this species: FLNA;  USDA Plants;  BONAP;  BISON

Collections, Observations & Flowering by Month [?]

J
0
F
0
M
0
A
0
M
0
J
0
J
0
A
0
S
0
O
0
N
0
D
0

Collections & Observations by Decade [?]

Species Status

Status/Listing: No Information

Notes:

Origin: Native

Species Description

General: Monocot, perennial

Roots:

Shoots: basal leaf arrangment; simple leaf type; entire, serrate leaf margin; Parallel leaf venation; oblong, ovate leaf shape

Inflorescence: spike

Flowers: perfect; 3 merous; complete, regular; green, white; hypogynous ovary position

Fruit: capsule

Physiology: autotrophic; CAM C02 fixation

Reproduction: sexual

Ecology & Natural History

Habitat: Rocky chert or sandy open woods in mostly dry upland ridges or flats, usually in alkaline soils on limestone, but also in acid leached sandy and cherty soils.

ILPIN Notes: Harden, J.W. and J.M. Arena. 1974. Human Poisoning from Native and Cultivated Plants. Martin, C. E., and L. Kirchner. 1987. Lack of photosynthetic pathway flexibility in the CAM plant Agave virginica L. (Agavaceae). Photosynthetica 21: 273-280. Eickmeier, W. G. 1986. Photosynthetic diversity of cedar glade plants. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 61: 104-106. Flowers fragrant, like Easter lillies. Sap may cause dermatitis.

Functional Relationships:

  • Pollinators:
  • Dispersal:
  • Mycorrhizae:
  • N2 fixation:

Human Relationships:

  • Edibility [?] :
  • Showy Flowers:

Wildlife and Livestock Information:

  • Food Value:
  • Cover Value:

Coefficient of Conservatism (C-value) [?] :

  • Entire State: 8
  • Chicago Area:

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