CACTUS ISLAND AFRICA - AMERICA - MADAGASCAR AMERICA’S CACTUS ISLAND This Agave is a spectacular hybrid of green leaves with a red margin. It can be planted in full sun or in sun-shade. It should be planted in well-drained soil and watered once a month. During winter it is advisable not to water it too much to increase its resistance to cold. It is advisable to avoid that the snow accumulates between the leaves. Tª min approx -8 / -10 ºC. AGAVE ARISTOCRAT Agave salmiana var. ferox (Agave ferox) is a variety of the agave of the Salmiana species belonging to the genus Agave and family Asparagaceae. The ferox subspecies is very close to the typical subspecies in terms of description and culture. It differs by having even thicker and stiffer blades, pointed ends (up to 8 cm) and even sharper lateral spines. This is why it is called by that name. Place of origin: Mexico. AGAVE FEROX NOTES: Agaves tolerate arid and semi-desert areas well, in fact, they are usually the only survivors in abandoned gardens. Ideal for plantations that do not need care or irrigation. They prefer sunny and airy places, with well-drained soils. Very little or no watering if the plant grows in full soil. In a pot, they should be watered but very little. Agave lophantha is a plant native to the deserts of Chihuahua and Sonora. It forms a rosette of coriaceous leaves or leaves up to 45cm high and 60cm wide, with jagged edges. The flowers appear grouped in reddish-yellow inflorescences up to 4m high. After flowering, the plant dies, leaving the suckers and lots of seeds. It is a kind of easy cultivation and maintenance, as it resists drought, high temperatures and there are no known enemies that can end it. Location: outside, in full sun. Soil or substrate: it is not demanding, but it grows better in those with good drainage. Irrigation: the land must be allowed to dry between irrigations. Usually, it will be watered every 3 days in summer, and every 7-10 days the rest of the year. Subscriber: it is highly recommended to fertilize with mineral fertilizers such as Nitrofoska, AGAVE LOPHANTA VARIEGATA adding a small tablespoon every 15 days, except in winter, which will be once a month. Planting / Transplanting time: in spring, when the risk of frost has passed. Multiplication: by seeds or separation of suckers in spring-summer. Hardiness: it supports light frosts of up to -2ºC. Agave macroacantha, is a species of succulent plant belonging to the Asparagaceae family whose natural distribution includes the states of Oaxaca and Puebla, Mexico. Agave macroacantha produces a medium leaf rosette that can be basal or can grow on a very short stem. The leaves are succulent, grayish-green in color and up to 55 cm long, at the apex there is a black thorn about 3 cm long. The flowers are small, gray and red, they grow distributed in bunches on a vigorous stem up to 3 meters high. The plant prefers a dry, sunny and hot place during the summer and a warm and well-lit place from the autumn. It responds favorably to regular watering in summer and minimal watering in winter, as well as planting in a large pot with a sparse and abundant gravel substrate. AGAVE MACROACANTHA Agave maximiliana, commonly called maguey lechuguilla and which is used in the elaboration of this agave distillate that is produced in the western part of the Mexican Republic, specifically on the coast of the state of Jalisco. It is also known as maguey tecolote in Sinaloa and as maguey manso in Puebla. It was precisely the brothers Pedro and Ignacio Blásquez, pulquera landowners from Puebla, who dedicated the classification of the maguey manso in the work: Memory on the Mexican maguey (Agave maximiliana), in the year of 1865, since they said that this agave was extracted fine pulque, for that reason they dedicated it to Maximiliano I. (Hernández-Medina 2017) According to CONABIO data, its habitat is rocky slopes with shallow and dark soils, in regions of low precipitation and semi-warm temperatures. From Sierra Madre Occidental, Sinaloa and Durango to Bajío, between 2000 and 3000m of altitude. It generally shares its habitat with Agave Rhodacanta, but prefers higher ground and blooms with another season. It reproduces only by seed, because the plants are as dispersed, without dense groups as the species that produce young. AGAVE MAXIMILIANA The Agave noa (Agave victoriae-reginae) 1 T. Moore 1875, is a small succulent plant belonging to the agavaceae family. It is an endemic plant in northern Mexico. Its name was dedicated to Queen Victoria (1819-1901) of England. It is highly appreciated by collectors and nurserymen due to its high ornamental value. It was included in the Marginatae group for having the horny leaf margins and the flowers with short funnel-shaped tubes and is part of the Littaea group for having inflorescence without apparent ramifications and with leaves with entire margin. The name A. victoriae-gevinae has been applied to four plants with great similarity but differing in the shape of the rosette, the number, shape and color of the leaves, the size of the flowers and the habitat they occupy. This section will only deal with A. victoriae- reginae subsp. victoriae-reginae. It has globose to depressed globose rosettes, with 70 to 200 leaves, the leaves are lanceolate from 7 to 22 cm long by 3.6 to 4.8 cm long in dry leaves, its margin is horny and continuous to the apex. It lives in the Sierra Madre Oriental in the states of Nuevo León, Coahuila to the east of Durango. On isolated ridges and hills. It grows mainly on limestone substrates. It is known in the Lagunera region of Coahuila and Durango as noa2. This plant has variable shapes, but in general its rosettes are small and compact, made up of short, hard, rigid and thick leaves; measuring 15-20 cm long by 4-6 cm wide, with distinctive white markings on the margins. The marks are generally found along the leaf next to the margins, with a triangular profile; giving an appearance of polyhedral image. The margins are not serrated, but at the end of the leaf it can include 1 to 3 thorns every 1-3 cm in length. It has a AGAVE VICTORIAE REGINAE height of up to 30 cm; when it does not have the inflorescence called quiote, which is a central stick with branched flowering at the top that fructifies and matures giving seeds; it reaches a height of just over a meter; this happening only once in your life (approximately 5 years or more depending on the environment and weather conditions) between the months of June to August; subsequently dying the plant. A.victoriae-reginae is found in the Chihuahuan Desert and in the Lagunera region of Coahuila and Durango, Mexico. To the South of the City of Torreón, Coah., There is an elevated accident called Sierra de las Noas for its once abundance of this agave; also known as pintilla. About half a dozen subspecies are contemplated. It is notable for its faceted, carved leaves, something that has made it very popular as an ornamental plant. Considered in danger of extinction due to its high illegal commercialization (mainly collecting) abroad, with a small plant priced up to 15 USD and one like the one in the photo up to 1000 to 2000 USD. Its decline, at least in the Lagunera region, may have also been due to its use in the preparation of an intoxicating drink by the Laguneros Indians in times of the Spanish colonization of northern Mexico; "The yndios have another genre of mexcale (mezcal) that is much milder than that of maguey, they call it noas" (Mota and Escobar). Currently, there are two centers of mass reproduction in the Lagunera region for the purpose of propagation, propagation and reforestation, non-profit in the CEMEX Community Center and the Antonio Narro Autonomous Agrarian University Laguna Unit in the City of Saltillo, Coah. Agave types and their geographical distribution in Mexico Maguey, also known as agave, is used to make mezcal, there are more than 200 cataloged species, although only 14 different species are used to produce mezcal, according to NOM-070 (Official Mexican Standard that regulates the designation of origin of the mezcal). Although mezcal, being an artisan product that is also produced for local consumption in different parts of the Mexican territory and which are not certified by COMERCAM (Mexican Council for the Quality Control of Mezcal), around 39 different types are officially used extra-officially or agave species. Fun fact: To make wine a single species of grape is used that has many variations. To make mezcal around 39 different species of agave are used that have many variations each. The maguey species with which mezcal is produced are chosen primarily for their ability to store large amounts of sugars in the stems. The mezcal-producing species are mainly distributed towards the West and South of Mexico, along the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Neovolcanic Axis and the Sierra Madre del Sur, where they inhabit dry forests, temperate forests, scrublands and grasslands. Generally a mezcal is made with a single type of agave but it is also very common to combine the alcohols from different magueyes to achieve more complex flavors. In the Mezcales Catalog section you can search for the mezcales made by each type of agave. The most widely used is Agave angustifolia, known regionally as mezcal in Sonora and Sinaloa; guisme or ku`uri by the rarámuris of Chihuahua; guvúkai, gubuk or ki`mai by the Tepehuanes of Chihuahua and Durango; tepemete or chacaleño also in Durango; thin maguey in Guerrero; Espadín in Oaxaca and Espadilla in Puebla.