Agave macroacantha
Agave macroacantha
Safety & Hazards
Many Agave species have strong, sharp spines on the leaves and leaf tips. In theory at least, the flowers, nectar, immature flowering stem and the centre of the rosette of all Agave species is edible and, with proper preparation, can provide a sweet, tasty foodstuff. Some species, however, contain relatively high levels of saponins (which makes them taste bitter) and some other compounds which can cause bellyache, and so these would only be eaten in times of desperation. In addition, many people may find these foods to be strongly laxative the first few times they eat them[ 1846 Title The Agaves of Baja California Publication Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences, No. 130, Author Gentry H.S. Publisher California Academy of Sciences; San Francisco Year 1978 ISBN 0068-5461 Description ].
Botanical Description
Agave macroacantha is an evergreen, succulent plant, sometimes with a short trunk up to 30cm high, on top of which is a rosette of leaves that can be 20 - 40cm tall and 30 - 50cm in diameter. Mature plants can produce around 50 - 70 spiny leaves that can each be up to 25cm long and 25mm wide near the base. After several years of growth, a flowering stem that can be up to 3 metres tall is produced, after which the rosette will die. However, the plant usually produces a number of young plants around its base that will develop as new plants[ 1207 Title Flora del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Publication Author Website http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/118975#/summary Publisher Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Year 1993 - 2015 ISBN 968-36-3108-8 Description An excellent flora (in Spanish) of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán biosphere reserve in southeastern Mexico. It can be downloaded from the Internet ]. This is one of the main species in the genus for making the drink 'mezcal', a distilled alcoholic beverage that is very popular in Mexico and is also exported. The plant is also harvested from the wild for local use as a food, it is used for making living fences and is grown as an ornamental[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ]. Agave macroacantha has a relatively small extent of occurrence, a rapid ongoing decline due to the collection of mature individuals for mescal production, and the fact that all individuals are confined to three locations. The plant is classified as 'Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2019)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].