''Agave angustifolia'' (Caribbean agave) is a type of

agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

which is native to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. It is used to make

mezcal Mezcal (, ), sometimes spelled mescal, is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave. The word ''mezcal'' comes from Nahuatl , which means "oven-cooked agave", from and .What is MezcalElmezcal.org Traditionally the word "m ...

and also as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

, the cultivar 'Marginata' that white margins on the leaves is a popular variety cultivated in botanical gardens and backyards. It is very closely related to blue agave ''Agave tequilana'', but is used to make the distilled alcoholic beverage

instead of

tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the Agave tequilana, blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ...

and is the predominant agave species grown in the State of Oaxaca. The ''World Checklist of Selected Plant Families'' regards ''Agave angustifolia'' as an accepted name. Other sources maintain them as distinct species with non-overlapping native distributions (García-Mendoza and Fernando Chiang 2003). ''A. angustifolia'' has narrow, stiffly erect leaves with moderately-spaced spines, producing capsules, not bulbiferous; whereas ''A. vivipara'' is described as having shorter, recurved leaves with short-spaced spines and bulbiferous. ''A. vivipara'' is likely similar to ''A. karatto''. The ''A. vivipara'' of Miller (1768) and Smith et al. (2008) seem different, of a much smaller habit and narrower leaves, from the ''A. vivipara'' of Trelease (1913) and García-Mendoza and Fernando Chiang (2003), of a much larger habit. Image:Caribbean Agave (Agave angustifolia) with inflorescence at Secunderabad, AP W IMG 6676.jpg, with inflorescence in

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the '' de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern In ...

Image:Caribbean Agave (Agave angustifolia) inflorescence- close up at Secunderabad, AP W IMG 6679.jpg, inflorescence- close up in

File:Agave angustifolia (Caribbean Agave) in Hyderabad W IMG 8663.jpg, in

Caribbean agave thorn.jpg, thorn of Caribbean agave at early stages

References

External links

Hort.ifas.ufl.edu: ''Agave angustifolia''
angustifolia Flora of Central America Flora of Central Mexico Flora of Northeastern Mexico Flora of Northwestern Mexico Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Plants described in 1812 {{Asparagaceae-stub