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Agave sisalana

(Agave, Sisal, Sisal Hemp)

Overview:

Interesting Facts:

  • The long, strong fibers in the leaves of sisal were first used by Native Americans of Central America before the arrival of Europeans. Because of its great strength, sisal is still used today to make twine, rope, and cord. Sisal currently supplies half of the plant fibers in the world.
  • The long, strong fibers in the leaves of sisal were first used by Native Americans of Central America before the arrival of Europeans. Because of its great strength, sisal is still used today to make twine, rope, and cord. Sisal currently supplies half of the plant fibers in the world.

Conservation Status

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Population Trend:

Growing

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Taxonomy

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  • Kingdom: Plantae - Plants
    • Phylum: Tracheophyta - Vascular Plants
      • Class: Liliopsida - Monocotyledons
        • Order: Asparagales
          • Family: Noctuoidea
            • Subfamily: Agavoideae
              • Tribe: Melieae
                • Genus: Agave (a-GAH-vee) Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 323. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 150. 1754. - Century plant [Greek agave, noble or admirable]
                  • Specific epithet: sisalana Perrine
                    • Botanical name: Agave sisalana Perrine

Unambiguous Synonyms:

  1. Agave rigida var. sisalana (Perrine) Engelm.

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Name verified on

Place of publication: U.S. Congr. 25, Sess. 2, House of Represent. Rep. 564:(8,9,16,47,60,86)87. 8 Mar 1838 (Senate Rep. 300:36, 105, t. 1, 2, 4. 12 Mar 1838)

Name verified on 29-Mar-2005 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 08-May-2006

Physical Description

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Genus Agave:

Plants short-stemmed pachycauls, perennial, often flowering after 8-20+ years, monocarpic or polycarpic, acaulescent or caulescent, scapose, forming succulent rosettes on thick, fibrous-rooted crowns, often rhizomatous. Stems aboveground, unbranched or, less often, branched. Leaves evergreen in rosette; blade light green to green and occasionally with lighter patterns of white (€œcross-zoned€) or imprinted with white (€œbud-prints€), linear-lanceolate to ovate, firm to rigid, often thick and fleshy, margins entire, filiferous, or armed with marginal teeth and short to long, sharp-pointed apical spine. Scapes, with inflorescences, much exceeding foliage. Inflorescences terminal atop a semiwoody stalk, spicate, racemose, or paniculate, open to dense, bracteate, occasionally bulbiferous, with flowers borne singly, in pairs, or in umbellike clusters of 2-40+ on peduncles or the lateral branches borne by the peduncle. Flowers protandrous, erect or recurved, showy; perianth mostly yellow, infrequently whitish or reddish, funnelform to tubular; tepals 6, connate basally into tube atop a typically constricted neck; limb lobes erect or curved, equal to unequal in length and/or width, linear to oblong or deltate, often papillate at recurved or hooded apex; stamens 6, exserted, attached atop or within perianth tube; filaments mostly filiform; anthers versatile, linear; ovary inferior, greenish at anthesis, 3-locular, succulent, thick-walled, ovules numerous; style subulate; stigma 3-lobed, glandular, capitate, papillate. Fruits capsular, oblong to ovoid, mostly thick walled and fleshy, dehiscence loculicidal. Seeds black, flattened, obovoid, becoming globose distally. x = 30 (5 large, 25 small) .

Species ca. 200: warmer regions in the Americas from the sw United States and Florida s to the Caribbean Islands and into Mexico, Central America, and tropical South America; widely cultivated.

Specimens of Agave are planted occasionally for their horticultural value in warmer regions. Native Americans have used most of our native species for food and fiber. Mescal and tequila are distilled liquors derived from the meristem and leaf base of agave. Tequila comes mainly from A. tequilana F. A. C. Weber, whereas A. angustifolia Haworth is the usual source for €œcommerical€ mescal. Some variants of A. angustifolia are also important sources of fiber. Commercially, most agave fiber comes from A. sisalana in what is now a worldwide industry. Agave fourcroydes Lemaire is also used but more locally in Latin America including Mexico. Both species are sterile hybrids of unknown origin.

Native Americans who used agave plants for food and fiber developed numerous cultivars, including many that may be the results of hybridization or mutation events resulting in fully or partially sterile clones. Some have been sufficiently studied cytologically and morphologically so that the origin of the hybrid species can be ascertained. Naturally occurring hybrids also are known, and some sterile recombinants are so distinctive that they have been formally named (e.g., Agave ×ajoensis, A. ×arizonica, A. ×glomeruliflora, and probably A. schottii var. treleasei) . There remain some species that may be of hybrid origin, or at least now are sterile or partially sterile, but little is known about their origin. Essentially, all the species are known today from pre-Columbian agricultural sites, and most appear to have had a Mexican origin (e.g., the many expressions of A. americana subsp. americana, A. decipiens, A. desmettiana, A. neglecta, A. delamateri, A. phillipsiana, A. sisalana, and A. weberi) . Some rare species associated with pre-Columbian sites are fertile (e.g., A. murpheyi) ; whether they were locally selected or brought from elsewhere is unknown. Some hybrid expressions, such as A. gracilipes, seem to be well established. It is a matter of taxonomic judgment whether the species status for A. gracilipes should be altered to hybrid status; we have not proposed that now because the cytological work to confirm the morphological hypothesis of a hybrid origin has not been done.

Indigenous people long have used agaves. Those containing high amounts of sapogenins are bitter and generally not used for food. Agave plants used for food are harvested when they show signs of flowering. Rosettes are collected and the leaves cut away, leaving the heart or head, which is pit-baked for many hours. It has been known for a long time that agaves have been cultivated in the warmer regions of North America, but it was only recently discovered that cultivation occurred north of the Mexican border. Such agaves are typically found near agricultural features and possess morphological characteristics that reflect desirable agronomic attributes. People no doubt traded agave products and live plants, thereby expanding the distribution of many expressions of agave. Agaves whose distributions directly reflect their movement by man include Agave murpheyi, A. delamateri, A. phillipsiana, A. applanata, A. karatto Miller, and A. decipiens. It is also suggested that A. americana subsp. americana var. expansa, A. desmettiana, A. sisalana, A. neglecta, and A. weberi may have been ancient cultivars originating in Latin America or the Caribbean, although at present there is little information to support this hypothesis.

Identification of Agave species is often difficult, especially with nonflowering material. See H. S. Gentry (1982, p. 47) for information on how to prepare specimens properly.[1]

Species Agave sisalana:

Plants short-stemmed, commonly suckering with elongate rhizomes, trunks 0.4-1 m; rosettes not cespitose, 15-20 × 15-25 dm. Leaves spreading, 90-130 × 9-12 cm; blade green, slightly cross-zoned when immature, lanceolate, firm, adaxially plane, abaxially slightly convex; margins straight, finely fibrous, typically unarmed, teeth single prickles when present, 1-2 mm, 2-5+ cm apart; apical spine dark brown, subulate, 2-2.5 cm. Scape 5-6 m. Inflorescences paniculate, open, often bulbiferous; bracts persistent, triangular, 0.5-2 cm; lateral branches 10-15(-25), ascending, comprising distal 1/2 of inflorescence, longer than 10 cm. Flowers erect, 5.5-6.5 cm; perianth greenish yellow, tube urceolate, 15-18 × 10-12 mm, limb lobes erect, equal, 17-18 mm; stamens long-exserted; filaments inserted ca. mid perianth tube, erect, yellow, 5-6 cm; anthers yellow, 20-25 mm; ovary 2-2.5 cm, neck slightly constricted, 2-4 mm. Capsules not seen. Seeds unknown. 2n = 138, 147, 149, 150. Flowering winter--early spring. [source]

Agave sisalana is frequently cultivated for its fiber and ornamental value. The plant is not known from the wild. As with A. desmettiana, capsules and seeds of this species are unknown. Capsules are known from A. kewensis (native to Chiapas), A. neglecta, and A. weberi, although no mature seeds have been observed. It may be that all are anciently selected cultivars that now persist only by vegetative means. None save A. kewensis is thought to occur in the wild. Plants similar to those found in Florida are known from Chiapas. Agave sisalana is an important source of fiber and probably was widely distributed by pre-Columbian people. [source]

Habit: Subshrub, Shrub, Forb/herb

Flowers: Flower Color: chartreuse, yellow-green

Images:

Distribution

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Range and Population

Caribbean

Native: .

Native: Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, Only Cultivated, Probably Origin Chiapas, West Indies.

Habitat

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Sandy places along roadsides and in hammocks; 0 m; introduced (Ref. 51058).

Reproduction

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Duration: Perennial

Growth

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Culture: Space 8-10' apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.6 • Maximum pH: 8.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Light Shade.

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Agave:

There are approximately 1,055 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: A. toumeyana bella · A. ajoensis · A. 'Blue Glow' (Agave) · A. 'Cornelius' (Century Plant) · A. 'Joe Hoak' (Agave) · A. 'Sierra Mixteca FO-076' (Agave) · A. aboriginum · A. abortiva · A. abrupta · A. acicularis · A. acklinicola · A. acuispina · A. affinis · A. africana · A. akites · A. aktites (Agave) · A. albescens · A. albicans · A. albicans var. ctenophora · A. albicans var. medio-picta · A. albomarginata (Agave) · A. albopilosa · A. alibertii · A. aloides · A. aloina · A. altissima · A. amaniensis · A. americana 'Marginata Aurea Monstrosa' (Dwarf Variegated Century Plant) · A. americana 'Medio-picta Alba' (Century Plant) · A. americana 'Mediopicta Alba' (Agave) · A. americana 'Mediopicta Aurea' · A. americana 'Mediopicta' (Agave) · A. americana 'Striata' · A. americana 'Variegata' (Agave) · A. americana americana (Agave) · A. americana f. picta · A. americana f. virginica · A. americana L. 'Marginata Aurea' · A. americana L. 'Medio picta' · A. americana L. var. medio-picta Trel. · A. americana L. var. medio-picta Trel. 'Alba' · A. americana L. var. medio-picta Trel. 'Aurea' · A. americana protamericana (American Agave) · A. americana protoamericana · A. americana subsp. protamericana · A. americana var. americana · A. americana var. expansa (Agave) · A. americana var. latifolia · A. americana var. marginata (American Century Plant) · A. americana var. medio-picta · A. americana var. oaxacensis · A. americana var. picta · A. americana var. striata (Agave) · A. americana var. subtilis · A. americana var. theometel · A. americana var. variegata · A. amoena · A. amurensis · A. ananassoides · A. angustiarum · A. angustifolia (Century Plant) · A. angustifolia Haw. var. angustifolia · A. angustifolia subsp. rubescens · A. angustifolia subsp. tequilana · A. angustifolia var. angustifolia · A. angustifolia var. deweyana · A. angustifolia var. letonae · A. angustifolia var. marginata · A. angustifolia var. nivea · A. angustifolia var. pacifica (Agave) · A. angustifolia var. pes-mulae · A. angustifolia var. rubescens · A. angustifolia var. sargentii (Agave) · A. angustifolia var. variegata (Agave) · A. angustifolium · A. angustissima · A. anomala (Agave) · A. antillarum (Agave) · A. antillarum var. grammontensis · A. apedicellata · A. applanata (Agave) · A. applanata var. huachucensis · A. applanata var. parryi · A. arizonica (Agave) · A. arubensis · A. aspera · A. asperrima (Rough Century Plant) · A. asperrima maderensis · A. asperrima potosiensis · A. asperrima subsp. maderensis · A. asperrima subsp. potosiensis · A. asperrima subsp. zarcensis · A. asperrima zarcensis · A. atrovirens (Maguey) · A. atrovirens 'Nana' · A. atrovirens Karw. ex Salm-Dyck var. mirabilis (Trel. ex Standl.) Gentry · A. atrovirens var. cochlearis · A. atrovirens var. latissima · A. atrovirens var. marginata · A. atrovirens var. mirabilis

Bibliography

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  • Berger, A. 1915. Die Agaven. Jena. Breitung, A. J. 1968. The Agaves.... Edited by Charles Glass and Robert A. Foster. Reseda.
  • Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. (CRC MedHerbs ed2)
  • Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage. (Zander ed13)
  • FNA Editorial Committee. 1993–. Flora of North America. (F NAmer)
  • Gentry, H. S. 1972. The Agave Family in Sonora. Washington. [Agric. Handb. 399].
  • Gentry, H. S. 1972. The agave family in Sonora. U.S.D.A. Agric. Handb. 399:97.
  • Gentry, H. S. 1978. The agaves of Baja California. Occas. Pap. Calif. Acad. Sci. 130.
  • Gentry, H. S. 1982. Agaves of Continental North America. Tucson.
  • Gentry, H. S. 1982. Agaves of continental North America. (Agave NAmer)
  • Hara, H. et al. 1978–1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal. (L Nepal)
  • Henderson, L. 2001. Alien weeds and invasive plants: a complete guide to declared weeds and invaders in South Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute, Handbook 12. (Weeds SAfr 2001)
  • Hodgson, W. C. 1999. Vascular plants of Arizona: Agavaceae. J. Arizona-Nevada Acad. Sci. 32: 121.
  • Hodgson, W. C. 2001. Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert. Tucson.
  • Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. (Hortus 3)
  • Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. (Dict Rehm)
  • Smith, G. F. 1995. The distribution, uses and history of Agave in southern Africa. Aloe 32:84–85. [introduced in South Africa].
  • Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds. (Invasive Pl Spec)

More Info

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Notes

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Contributors:

  • "Agave sisalana". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 443, 444, 445, 454, 455. Published by Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  • Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
  • Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 15, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 10 providers.
  • USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 24, 2008)
  • World Checklist of Selected Plant Families

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 15, 2007:

Identifiers:

Footnotes:

  1. James L. Reveal & Wendy C. Hodgson "Agave". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 413, 414, 442, 443, 444, 450, 463. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.

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Last Revised: May 11, 2008