Agave potatorum
Agave potatorum
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 potatorum is an evergreen, stemless, succulent plant forming a rosette of leaves that can be 30 - 50cm tall and 40 - 60cm in diameter. Mature plants can produce around 30 - 60 spiny leaves that can each be up to 35cm long and 8 - 10cm wide near the base. After several years of growth, a flowering stem that can be up to 5 metres tall is produced, after which the rosette will die. However, the plant sometimes produces a few 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 ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine. It is also used for making the distilled drink 'mezcal', for which purpose wild plants are often managed. Various cultivars have been produced that are grown as ornamentals[ 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 ]. Agave potatorum has a restricted area and extent of occurrence, being known from 10 or less locations. The plant is used in the production of mescal and is being harvested from the wild on a large and increasing scale Many subpopulations have already been extirpated for mescal production and all known remaining locations are affected. The plant is classified as 'Vulnerable' 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. ].