ORANGE COUNTY ZOO
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Irvine Park Railroad
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Copyright 2005.
Century Plant
Agave deserti
The century plant, also known as desert agave, is a stemless plant with a whorl
of fleshy, sharp-tipped and sharp-edged leaves. The flower stalks bear
yellow flowers in late May, but flowering in infrequent. As soon as the
fruit is mature, the rest of the plant dies. The young flower stems are
edible and fibers in the leaves have been used for making rope.
Century plants are found throughout both high and low deserts
in washes and slopes below 5,000 feet in the Colorado and Mojave deserts.
Native American Usage
Young flowering stalks were a staple of desert Indians and were boiled or dried
for winter use. The tough fibrous leaves were dried or pounded in water to
yield fibers for ropes, bowstrings, brushes and sewing materials. The
spines were used as needles. Seeds were ground into flour and the juice of
the roots was applied to fresh wounds. In southern California charcoal
from the agave was used by Indian women for tattooing.