Agave shawii ssp shawii blooming

Agave shawii subspecies shawii is the smaller of the two subspecies—A. shawii ssp goldmaniana being the larger. This form is pretty much always found near the Pacific coast in Baja California. This subspecies grows into beautiful stacked plants with an incredible number of leaves. Because of the number of leaves, the symmetry lends itself well to show off the variable spination of each individual clone. But that is for another article!

Here is a typically sized plant blooming overlooking the Pacific. Being slightly off-season, there was a male Anna's hummingbird impatiently waiting for the first nectar of the day from the only blooming plant within sight.

The waves are crashing around a hundred feet below. This was most of the way down the eroding bluffs to the beach.