ISI 2021-5. Agave ‘Switchblade’ J. Trager

Natural hybrids of Agave victoriae-reginae occur with some frequency wherever the species grows sympatrically with other agaves. Agave ‘Sharkskin’ (A. victoriae-reginae × A. scabra), for example, has gained some popularity in horticulture for its simple, elegant form and scabrous epidermal texture. ‘Switchblade’, published here, resembles ‘Sharkskin’ in its matt, olive-green coloration in maturity but is a cross of A. victoriae-reginae × A. lechuguilla. A. lechuguilla imparts its more slender, stiletto-like leaves. In juvenile plants, the leaves are also spinier, with minute retrorse teeth along the corky margins, especially near the base. A. lechuguilla also has different epidermal patterning, namely linear markings on the abaxial surface, that are also seen in young plants of the hybrid, as is a paler midstripe on the adaxial surface. HBG 119489 is a collection initiated into tissue culture as part of a collaboration with the Desert Botanical Garden (#1967-8980-02) for the ex-situ conservation of collections made by agave authority Howard Scott Gentry, author of the comprehensive Agaves of North America. This hybrid was collected by Gentry (#20044A), July 5, 1963, 12-16 mi NE of Saltillo and 1.5 mi E of road to Monterrey, Coahuila, Mexico, at 4500’ elevation. Gentry comments that this was one in “a series of intergrading variants of [this] hybrid population.” Rooted plants, $10.