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 macroacantha to 3 m (10 feet) in height. The plant prefers a dry, sunny and hot location for summer and from early autumn onwards a cooler, well-lit space. It likes regular watering in summer and only minimum watering in winter, and will fare well in a large pot with sparse, gravelly soil. In the UK this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. Agave macroacantha Agave macroacantha, the black-spined agave or large-thorned agave, is a species of succulent flowering plant in the Asparagaceae family naturally occurring in Oaxaca and also near the town of Tehuacan in the