Berlin: Agave, captured and tied up

From Berlin’s science and tech campus in Adlershof, this picture was sent in by Marko Förstel, who recently encountered a large newcomer among the plants in the oval lobby of an office building on Albert-Einstein-Straße.

A long-time Urban Plant Research reader contributor, Marko sent photos over right away, remarking “Someone seems to be afraid that this massive plant [will get] loose…”

Mysteriously, reports Marko, “It just appeared. Plants appear and dissapear all the time in that oval room.” We theorized about where the plants might be coming or going from. Perhaps an important scientist has a splashy plant collection at home and nonchalantly receives deliveries of new additions at his work address, co-opting the lobby to temporarily stash his new acquisitions? Or is there is some kind of shadowy houseplant migration going on and this is only once stop on the route? And who has cut off several of the agave’s limbs and bound it so emphatically in a way that looks less than gentle? Any ideas?