It is a plant without a stalk, with dark green leaves forming a rosette. Leaf margins are smooth with a white line that at the end forms a very sharp point (Figure no. 1).

Individuals can grow up to one meter in diameter and 60 to 70 cm high. Their reproductive stalk can reach up to 2 meters of height (Figure no. 2), and is visited by numerous invertebrates like beetles, ants, bees and wasps, and bats. After being polinized, flowers transform into three-cavities capsules that contains the seeds. After flowering the plant dies.

Populations within the reserve are healthy, as it is possible to find individuals of all ages, from young 5 cm long (Figure n. 3), to 1 meter in diameter. This species is found in very steep slopes, in altitudes higher than 700 meters above sea level, over rocky and shallow soils with a high exposure to solar rays.

Agave pelona contains a high proportion of water within its tissues and plays an important role in the ecosystem, as it is an important component of the desert bighorn sheep’s diet. It is locally called “lechuguilla”, and some people obtains vegetable fiber from its leaves to make several kinds of domestic utensils (brushes, ropes, etc.); this fiber is commonly known as “ixtle” and could be obtained from other agave species as well.

The seeds of this and other desertic species require particular humidity, temperature and light conditions that are not easily found in these areas. However, there are microhabitats like cracks in the rocks or humid soils under fallen logs that may provide the seed with the proper conditions to grow and form new individuals.