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Agave fourcroydes
Also called Mexican Sisal, Yucatan Sisal, Sisal Hemp, White Henequen
Henequen is a sterile agave grown mainly for its leaf fibre, used for rope and twine, and also planted as an ornamental in frost-free areas. It is grown from suckers or bulbils, not seed.
Agave fourcroydes, commonly known as henequen, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is cultivated, particularly in eastern Mexico, for its leaf fiber, known as henequen and used to make rope, twine, and other products.
Like sisal, A. fourcroydes is a sterile hybrid that is propagated vegetatively rather than from seed. It produces bulbils and suckers, although cultivation generally relies on suckers.
The leaves of Agave fourcroydes yield a fiber also called henequen, which is suitable for rope and twine but not of as high a quality as sisal. It has been cultivated for fibre in eastern Mexico for many years, most commonly in Yucatán, Veracruz, and Tamaulipas, and has been grown widely elsewhere, for ornament as well as for fibre. It is also used to make licor del henequén, a traditional Mexican alcoholic drink. It may be used as an ornamental plant in areas where temperatures below −2 °C (28 °F) do not occur, as it is frost tender.
It can be propagated either from its bulbils or from offsets.
American century plant · Century plant · Fox Tail Agave · Cow's Horn Agave · Agave colorata · Thread Agave · Agave guadalajarana · Black Spined Agave · Agave maculata · Murphey's century plant · Palmer's century plant · Agave parrasana
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Agave fourcroydes by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
