Agave deserti
Encyclopedia
Agave deserti is an agave
native to desert
regions in southern California
, Arizona
, and Baja California
. Its tall yellow flower stalks dot dry rocky slopes and washes throughout the spring.
It forms a rosette of fleshy gray-green leaves 20-70 cm long and 4.5-10 cm broad, with sharp spines along the edges and at the tips. It flowers at maturity (20-40 yrs), sending up an inflorescence
2-6 m tall. The panicle
bears numerous yellow, funnel-shaped flower
s 3-6 cm long.
There are two varieties
:
The desert dwelling Indians
used fibers from the leaves to make cloth, bowstrings, and rope. Young flower stalks (roasted), buds, and hearts of plants (also roasted) were eaten. Natives of southern California commonly harvested the "heads" using a specialized digging stick
and roasted the leaves and heart alike. Food thus obtained often became a dietary staple, even into drought years.
Alcoholic drinks were also manufactured from the sweet juices of this and other agave
s.
Agave
Agave is a genus of monocots. The plants are perennial, but each rosette flowers once and then dies ; they are commonly known as the century plant....
native to desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
regions in southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
. Its tall yellow flower stalks dot dry rocky slopes and washes throughout the spring.
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
2-6 m tall. The panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
bears numerous yellow, funnel-shaped flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s 3-6 cm long.
There are two varieties
Variety (biology)
In botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: as such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name....
:
- Agave deserti var. deserti. Plants usually with numerous rosettes; perianth tube 3-5 mm. Southern California only.
- Agave deserti var. simplex (GentryHoward Scott GentryHoward Scott Gentry was an American botanist recognized as the world's leading authority on the agaves.He worked for the United States Department of Agriculture, and was a research botanist with the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona after 1971...
) W.C.Hodgson & Reveal. Plants usually with one or only a few rosettes; perianth tube 5-10 mm. Southern California and Arizona.
Cultivation and uses
The Desert Agave is drought tolerant but requires good drainage.The desert dwelling Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
used fibers from the leaves to make cloth, bowstrings, and rope. Young flower stalks (roasted), buds, and hearts of plants (also roasted) were eaten. Natives of southern California commonly harvested the "heads" using a specialized digging stick
Digging stick
In archaeology and anthropology a digging stick is the term given to a variety of wooden implements used primarily by subsistence-based cultures to dig out underground food such as roots and tubers or burrowing animals and anthills...
and roasted the leaves and heart alike. Food thus obtained often became a dietary staple, even into drought years.
Alcoholic drinks were also manufactured from the sweet juices of this and other agave
Agave
Agave is a genus of monocots. The plants are perennial, but each rosette flowers once and then dies ; they are commonly known as the century plant....
s.
Sources
- Flora of North America: Agave deserti
- C.Michael Hogan ed. 2010. “Agave deserti”. Encyclopedia of Life
- Jepson Flora Project: Agave deserti
- Dole, Jim W. and Rose, Betty B., Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts, 1996, Foot-Loose Press.