agave

a·ga·ve  (-gäv, -g-)

n.

Any of numerous plants of the genus Agave, native to hot, dry regions of the New World and having basal rosettes of tough, sword-shaped, often spiny-margined leaves. Agaves are grown for ornament, fiber, and food. Also called century plant.

---

[New Latin Agav, genus name, from Greek agau, feminine of agauos, noble.]

---

agave [a-gave-vee]

Noun

a tropical American plant with tall flower stalks and thick leaves [Greek agauos illustrious]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

agave - tropical American plants with basal rosettes of fibrous sword-shaped leaves and flowers in tall spikes; some cultivated for ornament or for fiber American aloe, century plant Agavaceae, agave family, family Agavaceae, sisal family - chiefly tropical and xerophytic plants: includes Dracenaceae (Dracaenaceae); comprises plants that in some classifications are divided between the Amaryllidaceae and the Liliaceae Agave americana, American agave - widely cultivated American monocarpic plant with greenish-white flowers on a tall stalk; blooms only after ten to twenty years and then dies Agave sisalana, sisal - Mexican or West Indian plant with large fleshy leaves yielding a stiff fiber used in e.g. rope Agave cantala, cantala, maguey - Philippine plant yielding a hard fibre used in making coarse twine Agave atrovirens, maguey - Mexican plant used especially for making pulque which is the source of the colorless Mexican liquor, mescal Agave tequilana - Mexican plant used especially for making tequila dracaena - an agave that is often cultivated for its decorative foliage Nolina microcarpa, bear grass - stemless plant with tufts of grasslike leaves and erect panicle of minute creamy white flowers; southwestern United States and Mexico sansevieria, bowstring hemp - grown as a houseplant for its mottled fleshy sword-shaped leaves or as a source of fiber desert plant, xerophile, xerophilous plant, xerophyte, xerophytic plant - plant adapted for life with a limited supply of water; compare hydrophyte and mesophyte