Agave salmiana
Agave salmiana
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 salmiana is an evergreen, succulent plant, sometimes with a short trunk, forming a rosette of leaves that can be 200 - 280cm tall and 200 - 500cm in diameter. Mature plants can produce around 30 - 70 spiny leaves that can each be 100 - 220cm long and 20 - 35cm wide near the base. After several years of growth, a flowering stem that can be 4 - 8 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. The plant is both harvested from the wild and also frequently cultivated in Mexico for preparation of the fermented alcoholic beverage pulque, a Mexican national beverage[ 317 Title Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants Publication Author Website http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Terse details of a huge range of useful plants. ]. It is also harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of materials, and is grown as a living fence and boundary marker[ 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 ]. Agave salmiana has a wide range, it is abundant and even though it is affected by several threats these are localized. The species is also present in many protected areas. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' 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. ].