You wait 60 years for a plant to show any sign of life... then it sprouts up by 14ft in 8 weeks!
IT has lain dormant for six decades, baffling experts’ attempts at identification.
Until eight weeks ago, the mystery plant stood barely a foot tall and was set to be removed because it was so uninteresting.
To the amazement of staff and visitors at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, it has since rocketed to 15ft and is threatening to break through the roof of the glasshouse.
But for the garden, where the plant has been patiently tended since 1962, it a bittersweet moment.
The ‘asparagus on steroids’ now growing by 4in a day is about to bloom – and die.
That process will at least allow experts to examine the hundreds of flowers, which will last about a month, and identify its species. All they known is that it is a type of agave – a succulent from the same family as asparagus. Some species can take 100 years to flower in the wild in Mexico.
The plant had been due to be removed from the Botanic Garden because visitors were etching their names on its tough lower leaves. Because it could not be identified, it was also of little use for research.
But then it shot up, aided perhaps by last month’s heatwave, which saw a record temperature of 38.7C (101.7F) – the UK’s hottest day ever – set within the garden. Glasshouse assistant Barbara Griffith, who has been recording the plant’s height, said on average it has grown 10cm (3.9in) each day.
‘People have written their names on the leaves, so in a way we’re not sorry to see it go,’ she said. ‘We are excited to see it flower though, because we will finally be able to identify it.’ Botanic Garden head of horticulture Sally Petitt said: ‘Despite our endeavours Record growth: Markers show the daily height of the plant, now 15ft tall to understand the plants in our collection, we are constantly surprised by them.
‘This agave is no exception. It has been with us since at least 1962 and has done very little except sit quietly and slowly increase in size. We certainly had no expectations that it would flower now, so were very surprised, and excited, to spot that it was producing a flower spike.’
Miss Griffith, who has worked at the garden for a year, added: ‘Agaves are really interesting plants. Every part is used for something – one species you get tequila from. We’re eagerly watching it now to see how quickly it will grow, how tall it will get.’