Abstract:
The genus Agave L. has long been recognized as
invasive in southern Africa, and until recently was
thought to be the only one of eight genera in the Agavaceae
(Verhoek 1998) to have become regionally
naturalized (Smith & Mössmer 1996; Smith 2003). In
recent years, colonies of large plants bearing a loose
resemblance to agaves in general vegetative habit (Figure
15) have been noted as widely naturalized in Kwa-
Zulu-Natal, the Western Cape and Mpumalanga (Figure
16); these have been determined as Furcaea foetida
(L.) Haw. (syn. F. gigantea Vent.) of the tribe Agaveae
(Agavaceae). A plate of this Meso- and South American
species is reproduced in Verhoek (2002). F. foetida
bears some resemblance to those species of Agave
locally grown, particularly in domestic and amenity
horticulture; it also has rigid, succulent leaves, rather
than leathery, fl accid ones, and in this regard resembles
young specimens of Agave americana L., but the leaves
are verdant green and not glaucous. The main morphological
differences between Agave and Furcraea are presented
in Table 1.
