[Illustration: Agave lechuguilla]
Common names: AGAVE, CENTURYPLANT, (_MESCAL_), (_LECHUGUILLA_)
Arizona desert: (_Agave palmeri_). Yellow-purple. July-Aug.
California desert: (_Agave deserti_). Yellow. May.
Texas-New Mexico desert: (_Agave lechuguilla_). Lavender-brown.
April-May.
Amaryllis family. Size: Flower stalks 8 to 25 feet tall.
Many species of Agave are found in various parts of the desert, hence it
is difficult to settle on those which should be given particular
recognition. Their blossoms, in general, are various shades of yellow.
The larger species are called Centuryplant or Mescal (mess-KAHL), while
the small ones are spoken of as Lechuguillas (letch-you-GHEE-ahs). The
Lechuguilla, covering hundreds of square miles in Texas, New Mexico, and
northern Mexico, is an indicator of the Chihuahuan Desert, holding the
position in that desert which the Saguaro does in the Sonoran desert and
the Joashua-tree in the Mohave Desert.
From its leaf fibers the Mexicans weave a coarse fabric. Its plumelike
flower stalks, relished by deer and cattle, form one of the spectacular
sights of the Chihuahuan Desert in springtime.