A University of Michigan horticulture expert has sawed down a towering plant that lived an unexpectedly long 80 years before completing its one-time-only flowering process.
Matthaei Botanical Gardens horticulture manager Mike Palmer used a hand saw to bring down the American agave on Wednesday. Palmer says although he was sad to see the 20-plus-foot-tall stalk come down, “it was time”.
The agave has been in a decline since flowering last year, a development Palmer says is normal for the species.
He says the agave produced “tonnes” of seeds. And a university music professor plans to use a portion of the stalk to produce a flute. The agave that has called Ann Arbor home since 1934 started growing rapidly taller last spring, an indicator it was preparing to bloom.
