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 angustifolia Agave angustifolia Agave angustifolia (Caribbean agave) is a plant which is native to Mexico and Central America. It is used to make mezcal and also as an ornamental plant, particularly the cultivar 'Marginata'. The "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families" regards "Agave angustifolia" as an illegitimate synonym for "Agave vivipara" L. Other sources maintain them as distinct species with non-overlapping native distributions (García-Mendoza and Fernando Chiang 2003). "A. angustifolia" has narrow, stiffly erect leaves with moderately-spaced spines, producing capsules, not bulibiferous; whereas "A. vivipara" is described as having shorter, recurved leaves with short-spaced spines and bulbiferous. "A. vivipara" is likely