The first plant bloomed after 57 years

The giant tree has a 4.5 meter high calyx that blooms for the first time and only after keeping gardeners waiting for more than half a century.

The first plant flowering.(Photo: BBC).

The sepals of the agave plant grow in June in the botanical gardens of the University of Cambridge and rise to touch the roof of the greenhouse. Gardeners are not sure which species this plant is but speculate it is Agave vivipara based on the flower shape. According to them, the flowers smell like broccoli and not as beautiful as expected.

Staff at the botanical garden have been taking care of agave since 1962. When the calyx looked like a massive asparagus plant growing at a rate of about 10cm / day, they were afraid it might poke into the glass ceiling so they removed it. glass panels for growing plants. They also assumed that the tree would flower after two weeks. However, contrary to expectations, the agave stopped growing when it was only 0.5 meters below the ceiling and did not bloom until 9/9.

Calyx grows tall.(Photo: BBC).

Dr Ángela Cano, assistant garden manager, said the agave is Agave vivipara, but it has to wait for the tree to bear a definitive conclusion."The flowers of the plant do not look as beautiful as expected because the petals are colorless. In nature, the pollinator attracts the bees with a floral structure, the yellow color of the stamens, and the aroma of broccoli of flowers and the plentiful amount of honey that plants produce , " explains Dr. Cano.

Agave may take up to 100 years to flower. This is a very rare sight, partly because this plant is rarely planted in the garden. Agave is a tree that only produces fruit once, meaning they will die after flowering and seeding. Botanical garden staff guesses the tree will bloom in about a month and then die.