Agave deserti
Agave deserti
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 deserti is an evergreen, stemless, succulent plant forming a rosette of leaves that can be 30 - 70cm tall and 40 - 80cm in diameter. The leaves on mature plants can each be 25 - 40cm long and 6 - 8cm wide near the base. After several years of growth, a flowering stem that can be around 2.5 - 6 metres tall is produced, after which the rosette will die. However, the plant is often freely suckering and can produce many young plants around its base that will develop as new plants[ 1842 Title The Agave Family in Sonora; Agriculture Handbook No. 399 Publication Author Gentry H.S. Publisher Agicultural Research Service, USDA; Washington D.C. Year 1972 ISBN Description Gives quite a lot of information on the traditional uses of the plants. , 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 , 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 ].. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of fibre. It is considered to be one of the more edible of the Agaves, and was a principal plant resource for the native peoples[ 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 ]. It is grown as an ornamental in gardens - the subspecies simplex is considered o be especially well-suited for hot and dry gardens in the southwestern USA[ 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 deserti is widespread and even though there are threats in parts of its range, the overall population is stable. 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. ].