ISI 2019-8. Agave desmetiana ‘Joe Hoak’

Agave desmetiana has become a popular landscape subject by virtue of its modest size and relatively benign spines. The leaves are gracefully recurved in the upper third and form rosettes only a couple of feet in diameter for several years. In a wet year such as we’ve just experienced in southern California, plants will plump up to three or four feet in diameter before initiating inflorescences. While there is a dark terminal spine, marginal teeth are usually minimal or lacking. Especially popular is the variegated form with narrow margins of butter yellow. ‘Joe Hoak’ is a rather different variant, named for the Florida nurseryman in whose collection this sport first appeared. It came to us in 2000 and, although it is becoming more widespread, is still a novelty. It has pale, creamy-yellow, variegated leaves with slightly more prominent marginal spines than usual. The species is bulbiliferous, and, while there can be some somatic mutation in the inflorescence, most will come true to the form of the parent. A specimen acquired along with the Whitelock cycad collection in 2015 was planted out near the entrance to the Desert Garden. The plant, HBG 131962, flowered and produced bulbils last year to supply the small rooted plants for this offering. $8.