Agave Ghost, September, 2010, Photo by Lindsey
Agave, also called the century plant, flowers once and then dies. The Agave in the photo was found on Horseshoe Mesa in the Grand Canyon via the Grandview Trail. For those with a yearning for solitude in the Canyon, I suggest traveling along this trail.
But the miracle of nature was the great Mexican aloe, or maguey, whose clustering pyramids of flowers, towering above their dark coronals of leaves, were seen sprinkled over many a broad acre of the table-land. As we have already noticed its bruised leaves afforded a paste from which paper was manufactured, its juice was fermented into an intoxicating beverage, pulque, of which to the natives, to this day, are extremely fond; its leaves further supplied an impenetrable thatch for the more humble dwellings; thread, of which coarse stuffs were made, and strong cords, were drawn from its tough and twisted fibers; pins and needles were made from the thorns at the extremity of its leaves; and the root, when properly cooked, was converted into a palatable and nutritious food. The agave, in short, was meat, drink, clothing, and writing materials for the Aztec! Surely, never did Nature enclose in so compact a form so many of the elements of human comfort and civilization! William H Prescott, The History of the Conquest of Mexico, Chapter 5, 1843
