Tuesday, June 1
3 PM
Tulane at 10th
I was taking 10th from Shepherd to get to the Blvd. There was a car and truck stopped on 10th and I cut south rather than wait. Correction: This was before I turned and is at the intersection listed above. Anyway, I was blown away. I have never seen a Century plant this big. It reminded me right away, like most oversized plants do, of Little Shop of Horrors. It's 2 stories tall !
I don't know a lot about plants so I googled it, thinking the sheer size might mean it's very old. I was dismayed to find that the plant is probably on it's way out. According to one site "Century Plants bloom only once in their life, the blooming spike is so large and grows so fast that it saps all the resources of the plant, which then dies, leaving a tall wooden seed stalk. The plant is called the "century plant" because of this "once a century" bloom (actually the plant lives an average of 25 years). It was also an important plant to indigenous people, being used for medicines, fiber, needles, and food. "
I took this picture over 2 weeks ago. I wonder if this big guy has been sapped out yet?
I saw it still in full bloom last Sunday (06/06).
ReplyDeletei walk by it almost daily with the dog -- will check today to see if it's still in bloom! i had no idea it was a century plant, thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteIt's at Tulane st. and 10th actually. A couple doors down from us, it's been there since we moved in ( almost 3 weeks ago) and it's still going strong! I don't know how long it takes to die, but we'll be sad to see it go!
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