Octopus Agave

This is a very well behaved agave (no runners, no sharp spines along the edges of the leaves). After 12 to 15 years it blooms, which is what these pictures show. It goes from no central spike to a 20 foot spike in about five days and then the spike blooms from the bottom up for about a month.
Several months later, where each flower was, there is a new little agave waiting to fall to the ground and start growing, so there are thousands of little agaves by the end of summer.