Please put me out of my misery and i.d. this plant. Bromeliad? Species? It's 15" in diameter. Any idea what the flower looks like? Thank you.

[MiTmite9]

No idea how I acquired this plant. These are pups from the mother plant. A plant which has suffered untold neglect for decades; super hardy in Zone 10.
Thank you for identifying. Any info greatly appreciated.

 

[Chuck]

I could be wrong but it looks like Common Sotol aka Desert Spoon (dasylirion wheeleri). It is a common west Texas desert plant with a small greenish whiteish flower on a tall stalk like a yucca has. This plant looks like a yucca or a cactus but it isn't. It is actually a distant cousin to asparagus. The way you tell them apart is that the Sotol has sawtooth leaves and the yucca doesn't.

 

[MiTmite9]

No. That's not it.

 

[cpp gardener]

Possibly Puya, a bromeliad. It has thinner less stiff than Dasylirion. Takes years to flower and gets big.

 

[MiTmite9]

I could be wrong but it looks like Common Sotol aka Desert Spoon (dasylirion wheeleri). It is a common west Texas desert plant with a small greenish whiteish flower on a tall stalk like a yucca has. This plant looks like a yucca or a cactus but it isn't. It is actually a distant cousin to asparagus. The way you tell them apart is that the Sotol has sawtooth leaves and the yucca doesn't.

Possibly Puya, a bromeliad. It has thinner less stiff than Dasylirion. Takes years to flower and gets big.

A Redditor gave me the correct i.d., I think: Dyckia. Possibly D. goiana. If you have any thoughts on this, please share.

I had the mother plant in an 8" ceramic pot for decades. Totally ignored and neglected. Only received sporadic watering and rainwater. Split off the pups about a year ago (shown in photo) and sold a couple, too. Definitely a xeric plant.

Curious to see how big they get if inground.

 

[waretrop]

I have these in my greenhouse. These plants are so close I just can't figure it out. I have replaced my pictures with larger ones...

Dyckia 'Betty Garrison'

Dyckia

Puya chilersis

 

[MiTmite9]

Thank you for the photos. My plants look most like your Dyckia 'Betty Garrison'

 

[waretrop]

Ohhh and boy can they BITE...right????

 

[MiTmite9]

Not as bad as some of my other plants. But they definitely don't want to be touched . . . much.