English > agave: 1 sense > noun 1, plant| Meaning | Tropical American plants with basal rosettes of fibrous sword-shaped leaves and flowers in tall spikes; some cultivated for ornament or for fiber. |
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| Synonyms | century plant, American aloe |
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| Member of | Agavaceae, family Agavaceae, agave family, sisal family | chiefly tropical and xerophytic plants |
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| Narrower | Agave tequilana | Mexican plant used especially for making tequila |
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| American agave, Agave americana | Widely cultivated American monocarpic plant with greenish-white flowers on a tall stalk |
| bear grass, Nolina microcarpa | stemless plant with tufts of grasslike leaves and erect panicle of minute creamy white flowers |
| dracaena | An agave that is often cultivated for its decorative foliage |
| maguey, cantala, Agave cantala | Philippine plant yielding a hard fibre used in making coarse twine |
| maguey, Agave atrovirens | Mexican plant used especially for making pulque which is the source of the colorless Mexican liquor, mescal |
| sansevieria, bowstring hemp | Grown as a houseplant for its mottled fleshy sword-shaped leaves or as a source of fiber |
| sisal, Agave sisalana | Mexican or West Indian plant with large fleshy leaves yielding a stiff fiber used in e.g. rope |
| Broader | desert plant, xerophyte, xerophytic plant, xerophile, xerophilous plant | plant adapted for life with a limited supply of water |
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| Spanish | agave, cabuya, maguey, pita |
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| Catalan | agave, atzavara, pita |
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