Agave variegata
Agave variegata
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 variegata is a stemless, herbaceous perennial plant growing from an underground corm with fleshy, contractile roots. It produces a cluster of drought-deciduous leaves around 15 - 45cm long and 22 - 35mm wide, with a flowering stem that can be 50 - 110cm tall[ 1844 Title Agave Agavaceae Publication Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Monocotyledons, pp 21-311 Author Thiede J. Website https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-56486-8_111 Publisher Springer Nature Year 2020 ISBN Description ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine. The rhizomes of this and several other closely related species used to be highly valued for their use as a soap. They were sold in large quantities in local markets all round the country[ 1852 Title Huaco and Amole: A Survey of the Uses of Manfreda and Prochnyanthes Publication Economic Botany, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1978), pp. 124-130 Author Verhoek S. Website http://www.jstor.org/stable/4253919 Publisher Year 1978 ISBN Description ]. The plant is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. ].