Agave decipiens
Agave decipiens
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 decipiens is an evergreen, succulent plant developing a main stem that is very broad and eventually reaches 1 - 3 metres tall. A rosette of leaves on top of the stem can be can be 100 - 150cm tall and 150 - 200cm in diameter. Around 36 - 72 leaves are produced on mature plants, each of which can be 70 - 100cm or more long and 7 - 10cm wide. After several years of growth, a flowering stem that can be around 3 - 5 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[ 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. , 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 produces a fibre, but it is generally considered to be too weak for most purposes.