Fascinating! I have nothing to add except an anecdote. When I first moved here there was a little blurb in the paper how a lady had appealed to the city to not cut the flower stalk off of her 'century plant.' It was about to bump into the electric lines but she told them what it was and they left it alone & put a pic in the paper of it. I think the mayor here now would just say "too bad old bag" and cut it off, nobody likes that guy, he's being investigated for rigging the election.
I've seen a few of them in the 7 years I've lived down here. Always striking when blooming!!! Just not my style though. Look like they belong out west to me, a novel but jarring sight in the AL landscape. (People probably think that about my whole yard in the summer though, how natural is hundreds of plants with anything BUT green leaves?) Maybe jarring is the wrong word, because I always enjoy seeing them, or anything unusual!
