Agave americana flavored with the very pungent mezcal worm. "Mezcal" and "tequila", although also produced from agave plants, are different from "pulque" in their technique for extracting the sugars from the heart of the plant, and in that they are distilled spirits. In "mezcal" and "tequila" production, the sugars are extracted from the "piñas" (or hearts) by heating them in ovens, rather than by collecting "aguamiel" from the plant's cut stalk. Thus, if one were to distill "pulque", it would not be a form of "mezcal", but rather a different drink. Agave nectar is marketed as a natural form of sugar with
Agave decipiens Agave decipiens Agave decipiens, common names False Sisal or Florida agave, is a plant species endemic to coastal Florida though cultivated as an ornamental in other regions. The species is reported naturalized in Spain, India, Pakistan, and South Africa. Some authors have suggested that material from Central America and from the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico might be of the same species as "A. decipiens." Gentry and Zona, however, discounted this possibility, regarding this non-Floridian material as "A. vivipara" (= "A. angustifolia") "Agave decipiens" grows on hummocks in the Everglades and other marshy areas very close to sea level. It is