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| Century Plant Agave at the Museum May 28, 2019 |
The Century Plant Agave and a majority of its relatives are a monocarpic plant by this I mean it will bloom once in its lifetime. If you have grown this plant in your cactus garden or a landscape specimen you have probably witnessed this cycle of life, death and resurrection of offspring. These specialized plants are amazing to watch and especially during the bloom season with phenomenal record growth happening – 7 to 12 inches in a few days or seems sometimes like overnight.
The bloom period may come early-on in its growth. A misnomer purported with this Agave, “it only blooms when it is a hundred year’s old”, this is a pure myth. The actual Century plant may bloom within 10 years of planting, or it can bloom 20 years or more out in its growth process. The environmental conditions usually trip a chemical process within the plant to start the bloom onset but the same chemical also kills the parent plant. There are many varieties/species of Agaves and the majority of these plants flower one time, set seeds, starts the decline phase to death, and rhizomatous roots are sent out creating ‘pup’s’ from the parent Agave forming new plants that completes the life cycle.
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| Century Plant Agave at the Museum May 31, 2019 |
There are a few Agave species that are perennial, living-on, they do not die out. They are known as repeat bloomers and they do all the growing mechanics except the dying phase.
Agaves have a many species, with great variation on form, texture and growth habits. The These are NOT plants to use in a child-friendly play yard or areas where a person may trip and fall around sidewalks, porch steps in and close to your home or patio settings. Err on SAFETY when planting these plants. These Agaves like many other cactus-type plants store water within the basal rosette and roots to get them through the dry seasons they are adapted too. They do not like wet.
Century plant is a local favorite and grows in the desert regions of far West Texas up through mountains of Southern New Mexico northward. Anyone travelling the Guadalupe mountains west of Carlsbad will surely see and run into this specimen and others. They are a cactus plant that has formidable needle sharp-spikes and leave edges ribbed with extremely sharp cat-clawed thorns. Anyone ever handling these beauties will suffer a nasty wound, they kind-of reach out and grab you. Dangerous to humans and animals. |
| Blue Agave can grow to ginormous proportions and have central bloom stalks as large as telephone poles at the base. |
Agaves are essential for certain species of wildlife, one, is the endangered Long-nosed bat which entirely feeds on the pollen these plants produce for its sustenance but in the trade-off this bat is pollinating the Agaves for seed setting another food source and the ultimate new seedling Agaves. There are other bats, birds and insects that aid in this whole pollination and fertilization process with the Agave family.
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| Parry Agave can be found in the Guadalupe Mountains. Here you see a parent plant with a "pup". |
As I have stated about the Agaves, there are many forms, shapes and sizes with some being ginormous and making architectural statements when properly designed into a landscape. Agave species around the world have other social-economic values to cultural histories and food sources. The well-known Blue Agave(Agave tequilana) is prized for its drink (reported in a country song to make your clothes come off), hum mm…that being said, is the infamous alcoholic drink Tequila. Let’s expand a little on the culture and other values. The Tequila Agave are farmed, growing the Agave crop for 7-8 years of age and then they harvest the basal rosettes before flowering when sugar content is very high in the rosette.
In Mexico, people today and the past Mayan/Aztec indigenous groups have been using Agaves for thousands of years to make the alcoholic spirits, Tequila, Mezcal, and Pulque.
The Agave’s sharp spikes provide needles and the stringy fibers in the leaves provide thread for
sewing.
Meat is wrapped and marinated in the leaves and juices of the Agaves before roasting, which is an agricultural crop sought out.
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| Agaves are an agricultural crop grown as a food source. |
The Native Indian tribes of the Desert Southwest used Agave as a traditional food source. To these indigenous groups the Agave was called Mescal or Pulque. The Apache, Comanche, Mohave and Paiute tribes used the versatile Agave in many ways. The tough leaves yielded fiber for roof thatching, clothing, ropes and even a paper source amongst the Aztecs.
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| Many species of Agave grow in the world's dry biospheres. This is a Foxtail Agave. |
Agave sap and juice were used as herbal medicines by many of the Indigenous people groups. ALL of them used the fermented juice as an alcoholic drink such as Pulque, Mezcal and Tequila. Pulque, was originally a sacred drink of the Aztec’s associated with the goddess Mayahuel. (To read more on Mayahuel go to The Legend of the Aztecs. It is the Indian myth about the origin of the Agave or Maguey plant Agave).
Oh, back to eating the Agave. The most edible parts are the flowers, stalk, sap, and the basal rosette. A flowering stalk can produce several pounds of edible flowers, which can be boiled or roasted. The stalks before they blossom in summer can be roasted and has a taste like molasses. Flower nectar can be used to make sauces or sugar and bottled nectar will last up to two years. What can be eaten from the Agaves differs significantly from each specie, and one must check out for each specie and its particular usage. The large basal rosette is cooked overnight and removed on day-2 for eating. For a local flair the Carlsbad Caverns National park and the Carlsbad Living Desert and Zoo schedule fall events where-in they exhibit a dug stone-lined fire pit, harvested Agaves and then roast them for a public demonstration and taste testing of the roasted rosettes.
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| Century Plant Agave at the Museum. June 4, 2019 |
A note of caution…Agaves can be caustic and toxic. As Dr. Dirt, I want you all to understand cooking, roasting, fermenting are processes to negate caustic and toxic chemical(s) within the plants in the raw state. As for the Agave juice and sap it contains oxalate crystals that can irritate the skin, mouth, tongue, and throat. Swelling of the throat, breathing difficulties, and burning can result. The juice, sap, injured leaf tissue and the thorns can cause a skin rash or irritation. Folks should never use a chain-saw on the Agaves in trimming or removal of green plants. Ingestion of some species can cause stomach upset, vomiting, or diarrhea.
something, a lot of plants and certainly some of the wild natives we eat have to go through a process to make them edible. Hence,
A word to the wise, know your Agaves! One bite does NOT fit All.
Now, I can relate this comment as to mushroom hunting in the wild woods of Missouri Ozarks, ‘cause it all goes bad, if you et the wrong shroom’…. Dr. Dirt.
