Agave americana pita, which are suitable for making rope, matting, or coarse cloth. They are also used for embroidery of leather in a technique known as "piteado". Both pulque and maguey fiber were important to the economy of pre-Columbian Mexico, where the fermented drink was known as "octli". In the tequila-producing regions of Mexico, agaves are called" mezcales". The high-alcohol product of fermented agave distillation is called "mezcal"; "A. americana" is one of several agaves used for distillation. A mezcal called "tequila" is produced from "Agave tequilana", commonly called "blue agave". The many different types of mezcal include some which may be
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