After about 10 years the mother Agave americana plant sends up a flower stalk about 30 ft. tall bearing yellow-green flowers, which after maturing turn into miniature plants that are attached to the stalk, but they may be removed for new starts to plant in individual pots. The Agave Americana is a native plant to desert states and easily survives droughts and excessive heat. The Agave americana plant has a spreading rosette (about 4 m wide) of gray-green leaves up to 2 meters (6 ft.) long, each with a spiny margin and a heavy spike at the tip. Its common name derives from its habit of only occasionally flowering, but when it does, the spike with a cyme of big yellow flowers, may reach up to 8 meters (25 ft.) in height. The plant dies after flowering. The average life-span is around 25 years. An 8 ft. Agave americana plant will be a giant addition to your landscape. The Century Plant or Maguey (Agave americana) is an agave originally from Mexico but cultivated worldwide. The Agave americana plant has huge, fleshy leaves that radiate from the mother plant with hooked spines along the edges and a piercing spine at the tip with the whole plant being colored blue-green.