Coastal Trail View of Shaw’s Agave Patch

A collection of a plant called Shaw’s Agave

NPS Photo/M. O'Barr

Quick Facts

Location:

: 32°40.304’, 117°14.681’

Amenities

1 listed

Scenic View/Photo Spot

This stop along the trail provides a view of a patch of Shaw’s Agave (Agave shawii). This will be located to the west of the trail towards the cliff face. Please help us protect this threatened plant by staying on trail and admiring them from a distance.

Shaw’s Agave is a species very important to Cabrillo National Monument. It is incredibly rare in the United States and occurs more frequently in Baja California. Although populations of local Shaw’s Agave have vanished due to urban development, Cabrillo’s population is large and stable. Because of Cabrillo’s Mediterranean climate, the plant can thrive in this biome.  

The Shaw’s Agave plant has provided the park with an excellent reason to look deeper into the pollinators of the area. The primary pollinator of the plant, the Mexican Long-tongued Bat (Choeronycteris mexicana), has not been seen in the park. However, the park is home to 11 other species of bats and many other pollinators such as Harlequin Bugs (Murgantia histrionica) Sonoran Bees (Bombus sonorus), flies, and many more.

Did You Know?

• There are many different species of beetles, flies, native and non-native bees, and ants at Cabrillo National Monument!

• Point Loma is considered a ecological island due to the peninsula’s isolation from the mainland habitats.

Learn More
https://www.nps.gov/cabr/blogs/the-struggle-for-shaw-s-investigating-potential-pollinators.htm
https://www.nps.gov/cabr/blogs/science-in-action-shaw-s-agave.htm
https://www.nps.gov/cabr/learn/nature/terrestrial-plants.htm

Access
Not wheelchair accessible.