Century Plant (Agave americana)

I sometimes see the tall towering stems of century plant flowers in Greece.   I don;t see that many of these plants, but the ones I see are very impressive.  A century plant in Rachidi, near Katapola, is currently flowering.

Here is a close up of one of the clusters of flowers.  In the background you can see an earlier flower stem that is now dying.

You can read about the century plant on Wikipedia  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_americana