Agave lechuguilla
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Agave lechuguilla is a species of the agave genus( Agave ) in the subfamily of the agave family (Agavoideae). English common names are "Shin Dagger" and "Lechuguilla".
description
Agave lechuguilla grows with fairly open rosettes from 30 to 50 centimeters high that form numerous runners . The few, thick, mostly ascending to upright, sometimes sickle-shaped leaves are linear-lanceolate. They are deeply convex towards the base and concave towards the tip of the leaf. The light or yellow-green, sometimes green-patterned leaves are 25 to 50 centimeters long and 2.5 to 4 centimeters wide. The light brown to gray leaf margin is straight. At a distance of usually 1.5 to 3 centimeters there are brown or light gray, usually bent, regularly large marginal teeth 2 to 5 millimeters in length. The sturdy conical to awl- shaped end thorn is grayish and 1.5 to 4 centimeters long.
The 2.5 to 3.5 meter high "eared" inflorescence has a glaucoma stem. The partial inflorescences usually have 2 to 3 individual flowers that are stalked and 30 to 45 millimeters long. Their tepals are tinged with yellow or red or purple. They have almost identical tips 13 to 20 millimeters in length. The open flower tube is 2.5 to 4 millimeters long.
The chromosome number is 2n = 120.
The flowering period extends from May to July.
Systematics and distribution
Agave lechuguilla is common in the Mexican states of Chihuahua , Coahuila , Nuevo León , Tamaulipas , Durango , Zacatecas , San Luis Potosí , Querétaro , Hidalgo, and México, as well as in the United States in Texas and southern New Mexico at altitudes of 500 to 2300 meters . It sometimes grows in dense colonies on stony slopes, in open grass and woodland in various soil formations. It is associated with numerous succulent and cactus species.
The first description was published in 1858 by John Torrey . Synonyms are Agave poselgeri Salm-Dyck , Agave multilinealta Baker Agave hetaracantha Hort.
Agave lechuguilla is a member of the Marginatae group. The species is a widespread, characteristic element of various formations of the Chihuahuan Desert. Differences in shape, size, and flower structure between colonies in Texas and the higher-altitude colonies in Coahuila become apparent. It is similar to Agave lophantha , although differences in leaf structure are recognizable. It hybridizes with Agave havardiana , Agave lophantha and Agave gracilipes . Individuals are grown in the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. Agave lechuguilla can withstand periods of frost down to minus 15 ° C when it is dry.
Danger
In the Red List of Threatened Species of IUCN is Agave lechuguilla as " Least Concern (LC) ", d. H. listed as not endangered.
use
Agave lechuguilla is both cultivated and harvested from the wild to obtain plant fibers ("Ixtle fibers"). Brooms, brushes, mats and ropes are made from the fibers. With an average length of 0.92 millimeters and a diameter of 27.0 micrometers, the individual cells are very short and thick and cannot be spun (minimum length required: 25 millimeters).
proof
literature
- August J. Spread: Agave lechuguilla. In: The Agaves. The Cactus & Succulent Journal Yearbook, 1968, pp. 6-7.
- Howard Scott Gentry: Agaves of Continental North America . University of Arizona Press, 1982, ISBN 0-8165-0775-9 , pp. 154-157.
- T. Heller: Agaves . Ntv, Münster 2006, ISBN 3-937285-59-8 , pp. 100-101.
- Mary Irish, Gary Irish: Agaves, yuccas, and related plants . Timber Press, 2000, ISBN 0-88192-442-3 , pp. 132-133, plate 21.
- James L. Reveal, Wendy C. Hodgson: Agave lechuguilla. In: Flora of North America . Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 449-450 (online) .
- J. Thiede: Agave lechuguilla. In: Urs Eggli (Hrsg.): Succulent lexicon. Monocotyledons . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3662-7 , pp. 41-42.
Individual evidence
- ^ Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, Made Under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior, by William H. Emory . Volume 2, pp. 213, 1859.
- ↑ Howard Scott Gentry: Agaves of Continental North America . 1982, p. 156.
- ↑ Agave lechuguilla in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Posted by: Thacker, H., 2009. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ↑ C. Yu: Sisal. In: Robert Franck (Ed.): Bast and other plant fibers. Cambridge / Boca Raton, 2005, ISBN 1-85573-684-5 , pp. 229-273.
- ↑ Thomas Heller: Agaves . Münster 2003, pp. 92-93.
