Plants acaulescent, freely suckering; rosettes densely cespitose, (0.3-)1-5 × 1.5-6 dm. Leaves ascending to erect, (3-)9-46 × 0.5-2 cm; blade light green to yellowish green or dark green with white bud-prints on both surfaces, linear to linear-lanceolate, firm, adaxially plane toward apex, abaxially convex toward base; margins straight, infrequently denticulate, filiferous, fibers conspicuous, white, curled, infrequently sparse or absent, teeth sparse or absent, in proximal 1/2 of blade or near base; apex acute to long-acuminate, spine brown to grayish, subulate to filiform, 0.6-2 cm. Scape 1.5-3 m. Inflorescences spicate, laxly to rather densely flowered on distal 1/3; bracts caducous, linear-triangular, 1-3.5 cm; peduncle 5 mm or shorter. Flowers 1 or 2, slightly recurved, 1.6-2.8 cm; perianth greenish white, tube campanulate, 3-4.5 × 6-10 mm, limb lobes erect to incurved, subequal, 6.5-10 mm; stamens slightly exserted; filaments inserted 1-3.5 mm above base of perianth tube, erect, white, 1.1-1.7 cm; anthers pale yellow, 7-16 mm; ovary 0.8-1.6 cm, neck slightly constricted, 3-7 mm. Capsules sessile, oblong, 0.9-1.5 cm, apex short-beaked. Seeds 2.5-3 mm. Both varieties hybridize with Agave chrysantha.

Plant: perennial scapose herb; Rosettes (3-)10-50 cm high, 15-60 cm wide, densely caespitose Leaves: several to numerous, 8.5-46 cm long, 0.6-2.4 cm wide, linear to linear-lanceolate, straight, falcate, or upcurving, planar towards apex, thickly convex towards base, rather rigid, light green to yellowish-green to dark green, bud-imprinted above and below; margins with a fine brown margin and white threadlike fibers, sometimes serrulate at base or denticulate - down leaf to base; spine 0.6-2 cm long, subulate to filiform, with a short narrow groove above, brown to gray INFLORESCENCE: with scape 1.5-3 m tall, subspicate, laxly or densely flowered in upper - of flowering stalk, the stalk slender, green or red Flowers: generally in pairs on short pedicels, 16-28 mm long, flexed downward, fragrance not discernable; tepals subequal, 7-10 mm long, 2.25-4 mm wide, cream to light chartreuse green, clasping the filaments; filaments 11-16 mm long, inserted 1-3.5 mm above base of tube, white, the anthers 7-13 mm long, yellow-cream; ovary 8-16 mm long with constricted, angled neck 3-7 mm long, cream-green, the style 18-24 mm long when stigma is receptive; floral tube 3-4.5 mm high, 6-10 mm wide, angled, cream-green Fruit: capsules, 9-15 mm long, 9-10 mm wide, sessile, short-beaked; SEEDS 3 mm long, 2 mm wide, thickish Misc: -Open rocky, often limestone or basalt slopes of desert scrub, chaparral, and pinon-juniper woodland REFERENCES: Hodgson, Wendy. 1999. Agavaceae. Ariz. – Nev. Acad. Sci. 32(1).