Agave young flower stalk. Agave nectar (also called agave syrup), a sweetener derived from the sap, is used as an alternative to sugar in cooking, and can be added to breakfast cereals as a binding agent. The sap of "A. americana" and other species is used in Mexico and Mesoamerica to produce "pulque", an alcoholic beverage. The flower shoot is cut out and the sap collected and subsequently fermented. By distillation, a spirit called "mezcal" is prepared; one of the best-known forms of mezcal is tequila. When dried and cut in slices, the flowering stem forms natural razor strops, and the
Agave shawii Agave shawii Agave shawii, with the common names coastal agave or Shaw's agave, is a very rare and critically endangered species in the genus "Agave" native to southwestern California and Baja California. The plant is named for Henry Shaw, the founder of the Missouri Botanical Garden. The plant is native to California coastal sage and chaparral habitats, along the Pacific Coast of northern Baja California state of Mexico and southwesternmost San Diego County of California. It is much more common in the wild in Baja California than in San Diego County, where urban development has essentially wiped out the plant's