Is Agave a Cactus?
There are so many unique plants in desert and tropical regions! But it can be easy to mix them up. Is that a spine or a leaf? I’ve spent lots of time looking very closely at different types of Mexican plants so I could draw and carve them! Let me tell you all about the agave, and how it differs from Mexico’s other most famous plant, the cactus.
No, an agave is not a cactus. The agave belongs to the subfamily of Agavoideae, referring to some types of flowering plants in subtropical, tropical, and warm temperate regions. Many dry-zone plants, including yucca, belong to this family. Cacti belong to the distinct family Cactaceae.
Both agave and cacti may be called succulents, but this term is used to describe the fleshy nature of plants that have adapted to conserve water in arid regions. It is not a scientific term of classification.
Local people know agave and similar plants collectively as maguey.
Unique Characteristics of Agave
One of the main differences between cacti and other succulents is that they have spines, rather than leaves. The agave has no areoles (little bumps), but a “heart” which is protected at the core of the plant by its spiky leaves. Locals call this da piña, which means pineapple in Spanish because when you cut all the leaves off it does look like a huge pineapple!
The agave plant is just amazing in terms of what you can do with it. The core is roasted and fermented to make tequila and mezcal! The juice of the sap is used to make pulque, which is a delicious fermented drink! The pulp was used to make paper, building blocks, and rope.
The spikes or thorns have been used for bloodletting ceremonies in ancient times. You may have tasted agave syrup. So the agave plant is super significant in Oaxacan or Mexican communities from ancient times.
I might prefer cacti, specifically the nopal cactus, because it’s so tasty. You can eat it in tacos, but it's also super delicious mixed with jalapeños peppers, tomatoes, and onions. It’s super good for your heart! You can read more facts about cacti in my last blog post to learn more about the many varieties!
But the agave is one of my absolute favorite plants, especially the huge ones, like the Tepextate, which can take about thirty years to grow!
3 Types of Agave Portrayed in my Art
There are over 200 types of agave, from the smallest ones like Tobola all the way to huge ones like the Tepextate. They're phenomenal plants with real majesty to them. I’ve loved studying them to highlight them in my artwork.
Espadin
This takes 7 years to grow - it’s the most common and easiest to farm.
Tobala
This is a very small agave which takes 6-7 yrs to fruit.
Tepextate
This can take 30 yrs to fruit and grow up to 5 meters tall! Each agave only flowers and produces fruit once, and then the whole plant dies.
These pieces are part of a collection of woodcut prints from my time as an art resident in Oaxaca, Mexico. I'd never done woodcut printing before, but in 2017, I had two months to really learn this craft, and see how other people were working with it. In Oaxaca, it's been adopted as a real style. From what I understand, a Japanese woodcut artist moved to Waihaka about fifty years ago. He is a professor at the art school, and has raised almost a whole generation of artists in Japanese woodcutting techniques. One of the studios there taught me how to carve wood and create prints.
But my style is very different, because theirs is very precise. They draw absolutely exactly what they're going to carve out in terms of positive and negative space. But I am not disciplined enough, so I would just end up creating quite loose sketches and then carve intuitively as I went. My piece would develop organically, and I didn’t really have a clear plan, which I think my teachers sometimes found a bit weird and frustrating. But everyone has their own unique process!
Mythology of Agave
The peoples of Mexico have been captivated by agave for centuries, creating their own art and myths about the plant!
There are several legends of Mayahuel, the goddess of maguey (agave). In one version, she had a drunken, one-night stand with Patecatl, the god of pulque and healing. Afterwards, she mothered or birthed 400 rabbits who became the gods of drunkenness! They say she fed her 400 rabbits from her 400 breasts with pulque, the sap of the agave.
Another version tells that Mayahuel was imprisoned by her evil grandmother Tzitzímitl. A god fell in love with her beauty and whisked her away, but Tzitzímitl chased after them with murder in her heart. They fled to earth, where they twined together into a green plant. But Tzitzímitl found them and cut the plant in half, devouring her granddaughter. Mayawei’s lover found one remaining piece of her, and replanted her with his tears. The agave grew from her remains, and from her flowed a sap which brought love and happiness to the people.
Aztec mythology has so much about agaves in them. They’re revered and treated as a truly mythical plant of absolute beauty.
Remember, an agave is not a cactus! But it sure makes delicious tequila, mezcal, and pulque! Just make sure you can still count the number of spikes on an agave after your samplings.