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 shrevei slowly compared to larger agaves. Some of the indigenous peoples of the region consume the plant as a food source. The immature flowering stalks are sweet and juicy and easy to harvest. People either eat them raw or brew them into alcoholic beverages. The leaf bases are also edible, but require roasting to destroy unpleasant chemical compounds Agave shrevei Agave shrevei is a member of the family Asparagaceae, indigenous to the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico, along the boundary between the states of Chihuahua and Sonora. Two subspecies are currently recognized, although a third has been proposed ("A. shrevei" subsp.