Tequila Agave <<>> Blue Agave Flower Stalk Setting Seeds
Blue Agave flower stalk setting seeds in my Sonoran Desert Garden In Tucson, Arizona, Southwestern USA. The flower stalk is about 5 meters or yards or about 15 feet in height.
Agave Tequilana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Blue Agave)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Agave
Tequila agave
Agave tequilana0.jpg
Scientific classification e
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Monocots
Order:Asparagales
Family:Asparagaceae
Subfamily:Agavoideae
Genus:Agave
Species:A. tequilana
Binomial name
Agave tequilana
F.A.C. Weber
Synonyms[1]
Agave angustifolia subsp. tequilana (F.A.C.Weber) Valenz.-Zap. & Nabhan
Agave palmeris Trel.
Agave pedrosana Trel.
Agave pes-mulae Trel.
Agave pseudotequilana Trel.
Agave subtilis Trel.
Agave tequilana, commonly called blue agave (agave azul) or tequila agave, is an agave plant that is an important economic product of Jalisco, Mexico, due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila, a popular distilled beverage. The high production of sugars, mostly fructose, in the core of the plant is the main characteristic that makes it suitable for the preparation of alcoholic beverages.
The tequila agave is native to Jalisco, Mexico. The plant favors altitudes of more than 1,500 metres (5,000 ft) and grows in rich and sandy soils. Blue agave plants grow into large succulents, with spiky fleshy leaves, that can reach over 2 metres (7 ft) in height. Agaves sprout a stalk (quiote) when about five years old that can grow an additional 5 metres (16 ft); they are topped with yellow flowers.[2][3]
This stalk is cut off from commercial plants so the plant will put more energy into the heart.[4]
The flowers are pollinated by a native bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) and produce several thousand seeds per plant. The plant then dies. The shoots on commercial plants are removed when about a year old to allow the heart to grow larger. The plants are then reproduced by planting these shoots; this has led to a considerable loss of genetic diversity in cultivated blue agave.
It is rare for one to be kept as a houseplant to flower, but a 50-year-old blue agave in Boston grew a 30-foot (9 m) stalk requiring a hole in the greenhouse roof and flowered in the summer of 2006.[5][6]
Tequila production[edit]
Tequila is produced by removing the heart (piña) of the plant in its twelfth year. Harvested piñas normally weigh 80–200 pounds (40–90 kg).[4] This heart is stripped of its leaves and heated to remove the sap, which is fermented and distilled.
IMG_0291
Tequila Agave <<>> Blue Agave Flower Stalk Setting Seeds
Blue Agave flower stalk setting seeds in my Sonoran Desert Garden In Tucson, Arizona, Southwestern USA. The flower stalk is about 5 meters or yards or about 15 feet in height.
Agave Tequilana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Blue Agave)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Agave
Tequila agave
Agave tequilana0.jpg
Scientific classification e
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Monocots
Order:Asparagales
Family:Asparagaceae
Subfamily:Agavoideae
Genus:Agave
Species:A. tequilana
Binomial name
Agave tequilana
F.A.C. Weber
Synonyms[1]
Agave angustifolia subsp. tequilana (F.A.C.Weber) Valenz.-Zap. & Nabhan
Agave palmeris Trel.
Agave pedrosana Trel.
Agave pes-mulae Trel.
Agave pseudotequilana Trel.
Agave subtilis Trel.
Agave tequilana, commonly called blue agave (agave azul) or tequila agave, is an agave plant that is an important economic product of Jalisco, Mexico, due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila, a popular distilled beverage. The high production of sugars, mostly fructose, in the core of the plant is the main characteristic that makes it suitable for the preparation of alcoholic beverages.
The tequila agave is native to Jalisco, Mexico. The plant favors altitudes of more than 1,500 metres (5,000 ft) and grows in rich and sandy soils. Blue agave plants grow into large succulents, with spiky fleshy leaves, that can reach over 2 metres (7 ft) in height. Agaves sprout a stalk (quiote) when about five years old that can grow an additional 5 metres (16 ft); they are topped with yellow flowers.[2][3]
This stalk is cut off from commercial plants so the plant will put more energy into the heart.[4]
The flowers are pollinated by a native bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) and produce several thousand seeds per plant. The plant then dies. The shoots on commercial plants are removed when about a year old to allow the heart to grow larger. The plants are then reproduced by planting these shoots; this has led to a considerable loss of genetic diversity in cultivated blue agave.
It is rare for one to be kept as a houseplant to flower, but a 50-year-old blue agave in Boston grew a 30-foot (9 m) stalk requiring a hole in the greenhouse roof and flowered in the summer of 2006.[5][6]
Tequila production[edit]
Tequila is produced by removing the heart (piña) of the plant in its twelfth year. Harvested piñas normally weigh 80–200 pounds (40–90 kg).[4] This heart is stripped of its leaves and heated to remove the sap, which is fermented and distilled.
IMG_0291