Agave americana, common names century plant, maguey or American aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Agavaceae, originally native to Mexico, Arizona and Texas but cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant. It has become naturalized in many regions including the West Indies, parts of South America, the Mediterranean Basin, parts of Africa, India, China, Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia and an assortment of oceanic islands. Despite the common name "American aloe," it is not closely related to plants in the genus Aloe.

Although it is called the century plant, it typically lives only 10 to 30 years. It has a spread of about 4 ft (1.2 m) with gray-green leaves up to 2 ft (0.6 m) long, each with a prickly margin and a heavy spike at the tip that can pierce to the bone. When it flowers, the spike has big yellow flowers and may reach a total height of up to 25-30 ft (8-9 m) tall. Its common name derives from its semelparous nature of flowering only once at the end of its long life. The plant dies after flowering, but produces suckers or adventitious shoots from the base, which continue its growth.

The century plant's leaves spread out from a central core, resembling a rosette. The plant, which actually takes an average of 15 years to flower, does not look like much until it comes time for it to bloom. A large stalk, 15 to 40 feet (4.572 to 12.192 meters) high and as thick as a tree trunk, shoots up from the middle of the plant and produces hundreds of clustered white or yellow flowers. The blooms remain on the century plant for about a month before the stalk begins to wither and die, killing off the rest of the plant with it.