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レチュギラ

  • 個体全体
  • 個体全体
  • 葉の縁の棘
  • 子株
  1. Family name: Asparagaceae
  2. Japanese name: RECHUGIRA
  3. English name: lechuguilla
  4. Scientific name: Agave lechuguilla
  5. Country of origin: United Desert (Chihuahuan Desert)



Description
Among members of genus Agave, has small seeds and is an evergreen succulent plant with a rosette height of 25–50 m and width of 40–69 cm. Leaf width is 2.5–4.0 cm and length 25–50 cm. The flower stalk is 2.4–5m. After blooming and fruiting in approximately 3–20 years, it withers. Propagation is performed by seeding and new bulbs. It is a self-fertilizing plant. Has strong xerotolerance (capable of growing at annual precipitation of 30–51 mm), heat tolerance, and cold tolerance (can grow at −18°C or higher). It is a CAM plant.
It contains a large quantity of toxic saponins and sapogenins in the leaves and core. The saponins was used as raw materials for soap, poison, and cortisone (a kind of steroid hormone). The fibers are still used as raw materials for rope. The indigenous peoples used the soft leaves before opening as food, and flower stalk as building material.
 
Uses:
Leaf (medicine, soap, fiber), root (soap, shampoo)

References
Gentry, H.S. 1982. Agaves of Continental North America. The University of Texas Press, Tuscon, Arizona, USA.
Irish, M., Irish, G. 2000. Agave, Yuccas, and Related Plants: A Gardener's Guide. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, USA.
Tull, D. 2013. Edible and Useful Plants of the Southwest: Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Revised Edition. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, USA.
Sheldon, S. 1980. Ethonobotany o Agave lecheguilla and Yucca carneroosana in Mexico's Zona Ixtlera. Economic Botany 34: 376-390.

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