Michigan plant lovers said goodbye on Wednesday to a gigantic agave plant that took a staggering 80 years to bloom, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The agave spent its entire life at the University of Michigan's Matthaei Botanical Gardens before finally flowering in June 2014. Horticulturists said cutting the 20-foot plant didn't kill it because it already reached the end of its natural life.
"We had to take the stalk down because the plant is basically dead, and we were afraid the base would become too unstable and fall over and crush other plants in the conservatory," Mike Palmer, the garden's horticulture manager, told the Detroit Free Press.
Agave plants are not rare - they bloom all over the nation's Southwest, Mexico and Africa. But what was special about the Michigan agave is that it took so long to bloom.
"We are still trying to figure out why it took 80 years for this plant to flower. It's usually more like 25 to 35 years," Palmer told the Detroit Free Press.
The plant is monocarpic, meaning it grows, flowers once and sets seeds before the entire plant dies. Palmer said once the agave bloomed its flower stalk grew six inches a day and produced a staggering amount of seeds, which were then planted last December.
"It's done its duty for its species," he said.
The university's music department hopes to save and use the stalk for a flute-like instrument.
