Agave lechuguilla Torr.

Lechuguilla, shin dagger

Lechuguilla, meaning “small lettuce,” is a common North American native species. It is an indicator species of the Chihuahuan Desert. Indigenous cultures relied on this plant’s saponins to produce soap, as this 1922 report describes. This is a highly variable species, as is implied by the many past scientific names that have since been found to be the same species.

Plants: Succulent plants with a rosette of sharp-toothed leaves.

Leaves: The leaf rosette is 10–18″ (25–45 cm) tall and 1–2′ (40–68 cm) around, composed of 8-60 leaves, but usually around 20. It often produces “offsets”—new nearby plants. Leaves are thick, curved, and tipped with sharp spines (hence the name “shin dagger”). They have irregularly spaced teeth on the leaf edges.

Flowers: After about 30 years, the lechuguilla grows a stalk 6½–16′ (2–5 m) high, blooms with red- or purple-shaded yellow flowers, and keels over dead. (This rather extreme approach to flowering is shared by most agaves.)

Fruits: Seed capsules are oblong and up to 1″ (3 cm) long.

Habitats: Gravel flats, limestone terraces, scrubland.

Edibility: Poisonous Several agents in lechuguilla make it unpalatable to people; but sheep, goats and sometimes cattle are poisoned when they attempt to eat it. This is easily avoided by making sure more desirable forage is available.

Online References:

References:

Agave lechuguilla description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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