Agave rhodacantha
Agave rhodacantha
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 rhodacantha is an evergreen, succulent, rosette-forming plant, sometimes developing a trunk that can be 50 - 90cm tall. The rosette can be 170 - 250cm tall and 250 - 500cm in diameter, with around 100 - 200 leaves being produced on mature plants, each of which can be up to 160cm long and 10cm wide near the base. After several years of growth, a flowering stem that can be up to 8 metres tall is produced, after which the rosette will die. However, the plant sometimes produces a number of young plants around its base that will develop as new plants. 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. Plants are harvested from the wild for this purpose, and in order to satisfy the demand wild populations are also managed and the plant is cultivated. Agave rhodacantha is considered to be Data Deficient in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2019) because of its taxonomic uncertainty and placement - it likely represents a species complex. Further research is needed to resolve the taxonomy before threats and the species range can be adequately assessed[ 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. ].