Agave The fibers are used to make rope, the leaves are used to line baking pits, and the sharp pointed leaf tips are used to make basketry awls. Agave Agave (, , ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Some agave species are also native to tropical areas of South America. The plants are perennial, but each rosette flowers once and then dies (see semelparity). Some species are known by the name "century plant". "Agave tequilana", agave azul or blue agave, is used in the production of tequila.
Agave shawii flowering. Seeds are best sown fresh with no stratification required. Agave shawii Agave shawii, with the common names coastal agave or Shaw's agave, is a very rare and critically endangered species in the genus "Agave" native to southwestern California and Baja California. The plant is named for Henry Shaw, the founder of the Missouri Botanical Garden. The plant is native to California coastal sage and chaparral habitats, along the Pacific Coast of northern Baja California state of Mexico and southwesternmost San Diego County of California. It is much more common in the wild in Baja California than in San Diego