Agave, Linnaeus, 1753

Cházaro-Basañez, Miguel & Vázquez-García, Jose Antonio, 2013, Agave jimenoi (Polycephalae group, Asparagaceae) a new species from the Totonacapan region, Veracruz, Mexico, Phytotaxa 134 (1), pp. 55-60 : 59

Key to the species of Agave (Polycephalae group)

1. Leaves lanceolate, firmly fleshed; flowers slender, not trigonous, not markedly furrowed on tube and ovary ............ ....................................................................................................................................................................... A. obscura

- Leaves ovate or oblong to lanceolate, soft fleshy; flowers thick, fleshy, tube and ovary trigonous, 6-furrowed ...... 2.

2. Bractlets large with broad bases; flowers large, 60-90 mm long, tepals 3-4 times the tube length ............................ 3.

- Bractlets small, narrow, inconspicuous; flowers small, 35-60 mm long; tepals 1-2 times the tube length ............... 4.

3. Teeth large, 3-10 mm long, not united on a continuous reddish margin .................................................. A. chiapensis

-. Teeth closely serrate, 2-3 mm long, united on a continuous reddish margin............................................ A. warreliana

4. Leaves ovate to oblong or spatulate, short-acuminate, the length 4-6 times the width .................................... A. mitis

- Leaves lanceolate to oblong lanceolate, long acuminate, the length 7-10 times the width ....................................... 5.

5. Stemless ......................................................................................................................................................... A. wendtii

- Stems bifurcate ........................................................................................................................................................... 6.

6. Leaves with a yellow central stripe; inflorescence pendulous, with flowers in the upper third ................... A. pendula

-. Leaves without a central yellow stripe; inflorescence erect, with flowers in the upper half ...................................... 7.

7. Stems distally creeping or erect, 150 cm long; leaves 80-85 cm long, denticles all along the margin; inflorescence 250-265 cm long .................................................................................................................................. A. gomezpompae

- Stems distally hanging, 33-35 cm long; leaves 38-42 cm long, denticles lacking in the 6 cm below the spine; inflo- rescence 132-140 cm long............................................................................................................................... A. jimenoi