At St Michael's Mount this summer, visitors will be able to see a rare horticultural sight when an Agave Americana - a succulent plant native to Mexico - grows in excess of thirty feet in height, flowers and then gradually dies.

The Agave Americana plant is also known as the century plant' because of the great age it can reach before flowering. It enjoys warm weather and is only found growing successfully outdoors in the far South West. The agave will sprout a wand in the region of twenty feet in height, upon which a mass of delicate yellow flowers will form, but then the plant will slowly die having used up all its energy to flower.

St Michael's Mount is already open, but the garden is open on weekdays in May and June from 1 May and Thursdays and Fridays in July and August. Visitors will be able to watch the plants' progress throughout the summer.

Kate Waddon, Island Manager said: "It should be a spectacular sight. It hasn't flowered yet; however its flower spike is already over 17 feet tall and resembles a giant asparagus stalk! It's amazing to think that a Mexican plant can thrive on a cliffside in Cornwall."

The flowering process will last for approximately two months. Then the flowering plant, will very gradually dry out as the plant dies.

The agave is a succulent native to Mexico and is the primary ingredient used in the making of tequila. The agave only flowers once in its lifetime, and then it gradually dies as it uses up all of its energy to produce flowers.