Hypertext Webster Gateway: "agave"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Maguey \Mag"uey\, n. [Sp. maguey, Mexican maguei and metl.]
(Bot.)
The century plant, a species of {Agave} ({A. Americana}). See
{Agave}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Agave \A*ga"ve\, n. [L. Agave, prop. name, fr. Gr. ?, fem. of ?
illustrious, noble.] (bot.)
A genus of plants (order {Amaryllidace[ae]}) of which the
chief species is the maguey or century plant ({A.
Americana}), wrongly called Aloe. It is from ten to seventy
years, according to climate, in attaining maturity, when it
produces a gigantic flower stem, sometimes forty feet in
height, and perishes. The fermented juice is the pulque of
the Mexicans; distilled, it yields mescal. A strong thread
and a tough paper are made from the leaves, and the wood has
many uses.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
agave
n : tropical American plants with basal rosettes of fibrous
sword-shaped leaves and flowers in tall spikes; some
cultivated for ornament or for fiber [syn: {century plant},
{American aloe}]
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