In the Mexican Border of the Dunedin Botanic Garden an Agave plant is concurrently going through both the throes of death and the joys of reproduction.
The succulent of Mexican origin only flowers once about every 25 years and then proceeds to curl up and die, geographic plant collection curator Dylan Norfield said.
The Agave was donated to the garden 17 years ago by an Opoho family and is the only plant of its kind in the garden.
It was seven years old and about 60cm high when it was donated and was planted well back from the path in the Geographical Plant Collection to keep its spikes away from the public.
Little did staff know the plant would grow to take over much of the bed, growing to about 3m x 3m in size.
Then, in November last year, staff noticed a spike growing from the middle of the leaf rosette.
The spike, which resembles a giant asparagus stem and is about 7m tall, started flowering in August this year, and is expected to continue for another few months - before the whole plant collapses.
Mr Norfield said the plant would create "pups" on the stem in the next few months which could be taken off and planted, in order to replace the plant.
The plant can be viewed in the upper garden.
