Manfreda virginica (False aloe)

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Manfreda virginica (L.) Salisb. ex Rose

False aloe, rattlesnake master, American aloe, hauco, amole

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Liliopsida	Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
Subclass	Liliidae	Includes lilies, orchids, and many others
Order	Asparagales	A diverse group that includes asparagus
Family	Asparagaceae	Agaves, asparagus, hyacinths, and others
Genus	Manfreda	For Manfredus de Monte Imperiale, fourteenth-century Italian medical writer and botanist
Species	virginica	From or referring to Virginia

About plant names...

False aloe, actually a member of the agave family, is a North American native.

Identification: Plants are a small rosette of leaves up to 18" (45 cm) tall. Leaves are 5-16" (12-40 cm) long and 2½-3" (6.3-7.6 cm) wide, and curved along their length, with wavy edges. They are soft and thin, but they occupy a place between the thin leaves of herbaceous plants and the thick, water-storing leaves of many succulent plants. Leaves may have varying degrees of brown-purple mottling. Fragrant green or yellow-green flowers appear atop a spike up to 6' (1.8 m) tall.

References:

Irish, Mary & Irish, Gary, Agaves, Yuccas and Related Plants: A Gardener’s Guide, Timber Press, 2000, p. 218

Online References:

Missouriplants.com

The Vanderbilt University Bioimages web site

Tropicos®

SucculentGuide.com

EFloras

Agave lata Shinners

Agave tigrina (Engelm.) Cory

Agave virginica L.

Allibertia intermedia Marion