Top 6 Plants Similar To Agave (With Photos)

This article may contain some affiliate links and if you make a purchase after clicking on any of teh links, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Agave plants are known for their blue or green leaves, outlined and surrounded by spikes. These succulent plants, which are native to northern America, southern America, and sometimes southern Africa, can adapt to both cold and hot weather conditions.

Although, they are also plants that they share similar physical properties with, such as aloe vera, dyckia, pineapple plants, yucca, dracaena, cacti, and sedum.

In this article, we will be outlining some of the best plants similar to agave!

Plants Similar To Agave 

It is normal to find similar properties in plants, which are not different in agave plants. Plants with similar properties as agave include:

1. Aloe Vera

Agave has good striking similarities to the aloe plants. One is their ability to strive perfectly in well-drained and sandy soil.

They tend to thrive even with a very low nutrient supply and water and exhibit small spikes around their thick gel-filled leaves, similar to agave. They also have slightly close colors ranging from grayish to bright green.

Although there are also ways of differentiating agave from aloe. For instance, if it has a gel liquid, breaking a small piece of the plant is an aloe plant, while agave is full of fibers. Beauty companies use this gel to make sun relief products like sunblock.

See Also: Plants Similar To Yucca

2. Pineapple Plants 

Before a pineapple plant yields fruit, it produces a plant similar to agave. It is partially succulent, which means it can retain moisture but not as much as the aloe plant. Pineapple plants are almost similar to the ones at the top of the plant.

This fruit is known for its delicious and sour taste, but when grown solely as an ornamental plant looks like a miniature version of agave. The pineapple plant has a pointy long semi-succulent leave that grows in a rosette form similar to agave.

They have serrated edges and also develop short stems as they grow. Pineapple plants can grow within 3 to 5 feet tall.

3. Yucca 

It might surprise you to know that yucca has a striking resemblance to agave plants because they are slightly related.

They both originated from Mexico and the American southwest and are also members of the Asparagaceae family yuccas and have succulent, thick, and sword-like shapes. 

These plants have different species. Some come with spines around their edges, while others come with spineless yucca plants that can grow up to 30 feet tall. Like agave, the yucca plant produces flowers on its tall flowering shoot, but their flowers look very different.

Due to their origin, yucca plants have very low heat and cold tolerance, and they prefer growing in full sun, just like agave. 

4. Dyckia 

These are miniature agave versions. Dyckia plants are also origins of America southwest but belong to a different family name, Bromeliaceae.

They grow multiple rosettes with fleshy and pointy leaves. Each rosette reaches a radius of 4 inches, making it a diameter of 8 inches. Similar to most agave species, they grow in a stemless form. 

Dyckias produces a yellow flower with a golden to-orange bloom up to its length. Agave and dyckia plants have similar requirements when growing. Both plants enjoy hot weather conditions, prefer being grown in full sun, and are also sensitive to cold.

Dyckia plant cannot tolerate any temperature lower than 20 degrees faradays. 

5. Century plant 

Origanaly named furcraea foetida. This plant has a lot in common with agave, sometimes called false agave due to their dashing similarities.

The century plant has thick leaves that grow outward like a rosette. Like agave, they are large plants that can grow up to 6 feet tall and have spikey leaves. 

Century plants also have similar growing requirements to agave. It prefers the full sun and has a low tolerance to heat and cold.

They can survive in a temperature as low as 25 degrees faradays they also can withstand drought and need occasional watering because of their large roots and fleshy leaves. 

6. Dracaena 

This is another plant with similarities to agave. They have narrow and long sword-shaped leaves that are semi-succulent and grow in a rosette form. Some species have the shorter stem, which makes them more similar to agave, while some have longer stems.

Like agave, dracaena produces tall flowering shoots from the middle of their plant though they are not as tall as the agave plant. 

 Although variegated species of agave and dracaena may look alike, they have two different growing requirements. Agave has a higher heat, drought, and cold tolerance than dracaena, making it an indoor plant due to its love for shadier areas. 

How Do I Differentiate Agave From Other Plants?

Agave from aloe

Although agave and aloe have the same growing requirements, they are also some huge internal differences. Aloe plants have thick leaves containing gel used in skin care to remove burns and minor skin irritations, while the inside of agave is used in making ropes. 

Aloe juice is also safe to consume, but this is the opposite for agave. Consumption of this plant may cause the throat to go numb and require the stomach to pump. 

Agave has only one flower, which dies immediately after it blooms, while aloe has multiple flowers. 

Aloe plants have a lifespan of up to 12 years, while agave can stay up to 100 years. Also, agave plants are usually larger than aloe, but there are some exceptions, like in the case of the aloe tree. 

Agave from yucca 

The major difference between these two plants is that agave plants have wide and thick leaves with spines around their edges, while yucca plants have narrow and thin leaves with white curly hair around their edges. 

Another noticeable difference between agave and yucca is the shape of their leaves. The agave plant has a less fleshy leave, but the yucca leaves are even less plump. Yucca also tends to have sword-shaped long and narrow leaves. 

Yucca blooms once a year which is between mid-summer to early fall. Although it varies slightly for different varieties, agave only blooms once throughout its lifetime, and this only happens when it is about to die.

Agave and cactus

The spikes and thorns on both the agave plant and cactus plants are different. On the agave
plant, the spike comes from the sides or ends of the leaves while on the cactus, it emerges
from the stem area.

Conclusion

If you love the agave plant and you live around areas where they are rare, above are some amazing
substitutes you can get instead.