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 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."