Agavoideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae, known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, ''Asparagus officinalis''. Those who live in the temperate c ...

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Asparagales. It has previously been treated as a separate family, Agavaceae. The group includes many well-known

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

and dry-zone types, such as the

agaves ''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 i ...

and yuccas (including the Joshua tree). About 640 species are placed in around 23

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

; they are widespread in the tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions of the world.

Description and uses

Species may be

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

or not. In general, Agavoideae leaves occur as rosettes at the end of a woody stem, which may range from extremely short to tree-like heights, as in the Joshua tree. The leaves are parallel-veined, and usually appear long and pointed, often with a hardened spine on the end, and sometimes with additional spines along the margins. ''Agave'' species are used to make '' tequila, pulque,'' and '' mezcal'', while others are valued for their fibers. They are quite popular for

xeriscaping Xeriscaping is the process of Garden design, landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained accep ...

, as many have showy flowers.

Systematics

The taxonomy of the group has varied widely. In the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fur ...

of 2009, adopted here, the Agavoideae are defined very broadly to include the former family Agavaceae along with other formerly separate families such as Anemarrhenaceae, Chlorogalaceae, Hostaceae, Yuccaceae, Anthericaceae, Hesperocallidaceae, and Chlorogalaceae, based on data from molecular systematics. Stevens comments that "The broad concept of Agavoideae ..may not seem very satisfactory" but that none of the alternatives is better. Sources prior to 2009 will still have Agavaceae (in varying circumscriptions) as a separate family and may contain varying numbers of other families included in the Agavoideae in the APG III system. Some genera formerly placed in this group (under whatever name) have been separated off; e.g. '' Dracaena'', which superficially resembles some species of '' Agave'', is currently placed in the subfamily Nolinoideae.

Genera

A partial list of the genera included in the Agavoideae is given below. The reference is to the source that places the genus in this subfamily. As noted above, the genera currently included here have varied widely in their limits and assignment to families and subfamilies; some former family placements other than Agavaceae are found in the literature are given below.

References

* * *

External links

Agavaceae
in Flora of North America.

in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval.
Die Agaven

i
BoDD – Botanical Dermatology Database
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q162802 Asparagales subfamilies

Description and uses

Systematics

Genera

See also

References

External links