AGAVE
(uh-GAH-vee)
A
plant grown hot, dry regions used in the making of some alcoholic
beverages Common
clues:
Tequila
source; Century plant; Desert plant; Mescal source; Plant used to
make tequila; Mojave plant Crossword
puzzle frequency:
once a year News: Five
Reasons Tequila is Good For You Video: Tequila:
How It's Made
Agaves
are succulent plants of a large botanical genus of the same name,
belonging to the family Agavaceae. Chiefly Mexican, they occur
also in the southern and western United States and in central and
tropical South America. The plants have a large rosette of thick
fleshy leaves generally ending in a sharp point and with a spiny
margin; the stout stem is usually short, the leaves apparently
springing from the root.
Century
plant
The
most familiar species is Agave americana, a native of tropical
America. Common names include Century Plant, Maguey (in Mexico),
or American Aloe (it is not, however, closely related to the
genus Aloe). The name "Century Plant" refers to the
long time the plant takes to flower, although the number of years
before flowering occurs depends on the vigor of the individual,
the richness of the soil and the climate; during these years the
plant is storing in its fleshy leaves the nourishment required
for the effort of flowering.
During
the development of the inflorescence there is a rush of sap to
the base of the young flowerstalk. In the case of A. americana
and other species this is used by the Mexicans to make their
national beverage, pulque; the flower shoot is cut out and the
sap collected and subsequently fermented. By distillation a
spirit called mezcal is prepared; one of the most well-known
forms of mezcal is tequila.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Agave".
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