Jalisco the blue agave plant. It is the most famous type of mezcal produced in Mexico, and the only mezcal which is produced industrially with strict standards. The tequila industry supports large scale cultivation of the blue agave, with about 200,000 people employed through it directly or indirectly. It is named after a small town northwest of the city of Guadalajara in the center of where it is produced and the native region of the blue agave. The plant was used in pre-Hispanic times to make a ceremonial drink. The Spanish used the sweet heart of the mature plant, called a
Agave schottii direct sunlight. Individuals of this species are flowering shrubs. The "Agave schottii", like other "Agave" species, are succulents with a rosette of thick, blue-green, finger-like leaves with sharp spines on their tips. The "Agave schottii" is different from other "Agave" in that the leaves do not have spines on its edges, which makes it a member of the "Agave" subgenus Littaea. Its leaves typically grow to a length of about 0.3 meters (0.98 feet). Because its height is about that of a human's shin, and because it has sharp, spiny leaves, this species has been given the common name "Shindagger."