I couldn't resist the title, but please substitute both "the"s for "a"s! This Century Plant is American in origin but it happily affirms its imposing presence here at Ravana's Secret and widely throughout this area of Sri Lanka's Hill Country. It flowers only once: throwing a stem way up into the sky as a final statement before it dies. Happily, as with bananas, it leaves babies at its base to take over where it left off.