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| Agave
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Century plant | ||||||||||||
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Agave americana Agave fourcroydes Agave sisalana many others, see text |
For the queen of Greek mythology, see Agave (mythology).
Agaves are succulent plants of a large botanical genus of the same name, belonging to the family Agavaceae. Chiefly Mexican, they occur also in the southern and western United States and in central and tropical South America. The plants have a large rosette of thick fleshy leaves generally ending in a sharp point and with a spiny margin; the stout stem is usually short, the leaves apparently springing from the root.
They grow slowly and flower but once after a number of years, when a tall stem or "mast" grows from the centre of the leaf rosette and bears a large number of shortly tubular flowers. After development of fruit the plant dies down, but suckers are frequently produced from the base of the stem which become new plants.
The most familiar species is Agave americana, a native of tropical America, the so-called Century Plant or American aloeabout 400 See list Aloe is a genus of plants belonging to family Asphodelaceae, with about 400 species. They grow in the drier parts of Africa, especially South Africa's Cape Province, and in the mountains of tropical Africa. They are succulent plants. (the maguey of Mexico). The number of years before flowering occurs depends on the vigour of the individual, the richness of the soil and the climate; during these years the plant is storing in its fleshy leaves the nourishment required for the effort of flowering. During the development of the inflorescence there is a rush of sap to the base of the young flowerstalk. In the case of A. americana and other species this is used by the Mexicans to make their national beverage, pulquePulque is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of the maguey plant, a traditional native beverage of Mesoamerica. The maguey plant is not a cactus (as has sometimes been mistakenly suggested) but an agave called "century plant" in the Unite; the flower shoot is cut out and the sap collected and subsequently fermented. By distillation a spirit called mezcalMezcal is a Mexican distilled spirit made from the agave plant. There are many different types of agaves, and each produces a slightly different mezcal. Agave is part of the Agavaceae family, also called maguey. Tequila is a mezcal made only from the blue is prepared. The leaves of several species yield fibre, as for instance, Agave rigida var. sisalana, sisalFor the programming language, see SISAL, and for the town, see Sisal, Yucatan. Sisal Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Agavaceae Genus Agave Species sisalana Binomial name Agave hemp, Agave decipiens, False Sisal Hemp; Agave americana is the source of pita fibre, and is used as a fibre plant in Mexico, the West Indies and southern Europe. The flowering stem of the last named, dried and cut in slices, forms natural razor strops, and the expressed juice of the leaves will lather in water like soap. In India the plant is extensively used for hedges along railroads.
Agave americana, century plant, was introduced into Europe about the middle of the 16th century and is now widely cultivated for its handsome appearance; in the variegated forms the leaf has a white or yellow marginal or central stripe from base to apex. As the leaves unfold from the centre of the rosette the impression of the marginal spines is very conspicuous on the still erect younger leaves. The tequ plants are usually grown in tubs and put out in the summer months, but in the winter require to be protected from frost. They mature very slowly and die after flowering, but are easily propagated by the offsets from the base of the stem.
Agave nectar has been used as an alternative to sugar in cooking.