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 eggersiana Agave eggersiana Agave eggersiana, Eggers' century plant, is an endangered species of spiky plant which grows in the Virgin Islands, in dry, exposed areas. "Agave eggersiana" is a perennial herb known in the wild only from the island of St. Croix of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USFWS 1998a). A small number of plants remain on private land and are threatened by tourist development (USFWS 1998b). Other threats include feral pigs and goats on National Park Service land (USFWS 1998b). Research needs include distribution and abundance, general biology and ecology (USFWS 1998a). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requests that any