Sisal, with the botanical name Agave sisalana, is a species of Agave native to southern Mexico but widely cultivated and naturalized in many other countries. It yields a stiff fibre used in making various products. The term sisal may refer either to the plant's common name or the fibre, depending on the context. It is sometimes referred to as "sisal hemp", because for centuries hemp was a major source for fibre, and other fibre sources were named after it.
Henequen is an agave, a plant species native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is reportedly naturalized in Italy, the Canary Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Hispaniola, the Cayman Islands and the Lesser Antilles.
The Chihuahuan Desert is a desert and ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of West Texas, parts of the middle and lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower Pecos Valley in New Mexico, and a portion of southeastern Arizona, as well as the central and northern portions of the Mexican Plateau. It is bordered on the west by the extensive Sierra Madre Occidental range, along with northwestern lowlands of the Sierra Madre Oriental range. On the Mexican side, it covers a large portion of the state of Chihuahua, along with portions of Coahuila, north-eastern Durango, the extreme northern part of Zacatecas, and small western portions of Nuevo León. With an area of about 362,000 km2 (139,769 sq mi), it is the second largest desert of the Americas and the largest in North America.
Fiber crops are field crops grown for their fibers, which are traditionally used to make paper, cloth, or rope.
Agave americana, common names sentry plant, century plant, maguey or American aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Mexico, and the United States in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. Today, it is cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant. It has become naturalized in many regions, including the West Indies, parts of South America, the southern Mediterranean Basin, and parts of Africa, India, China, Thailand, and Australia.
Yucca baccata is a common species of yucca native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, from southeastern California north to Utah, east to western Texas and south to Sonora and Chihuahua. It is also reported in the wild in Colombia.
Yucca elata is a perennial plant, with common names that include soaptree, soaptree yucca, soapweed, and palmella. It is native to southwestern North America, in the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Desert in the United States, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and northern Mexico.
Hesperoyucca whipplei, the chaparral yucca, our Lord's candle, Spanish bayonet, Quixote yucca or foothill yucca, is a species of flowering plant closely related to, and formerly usually included in, the genus Yucca. It is native to southern California, United States and Baja California, Mexico, where it occurs mainly in chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and oak woodland plant communities at altitudes of 0–2500 m.
Agave lechuguilla is an Agave species found only in the Chihuahuan Desert, where it is an indicator species. It typically grows on calcareous soils. The plant flowers once in its life, then it dies. The flowers are a source of nutrients for insects, bats, and some birds.
Yucca gloriosa var. tristis, known as curve-leaf yucca, curved-leaved Spanish-dagger or pendulous yucca, is a variety of Yucca gloriosa. It is often grown as an ornamental plant, and is native to the southeastern United States, from coastal North Carolina south through Florida and west to Texas. In contrast to Y. gloriosa var. tristis, the leaves of Y. gloriosa var. gloriosa are hard stiff, erect and narrower.
Agave is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas, although some Agave species are also native to tropical areas of South America. The genus Agave is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Plants in this genus may be considered perennial, because they require several to many years to mature and flower. However, most Agave species are more accurately described as monocarpic rosettes or multiannuals, since each individual rosette flowers only once and then dies ; a small number of Agave species are polycarpic.
Echinomastus mariposensis is a rare species of cactus known by the common names Lloyd's fishhook cactus, golfball cactus, silver column cactus, and Mariposa cactus. It is native to a small section of territory straddling the border between Brewster County, Texas, in the United States and the state of Coahuila in Mexico. It has been federally listed as a threatened species in the United States since 1979.
Dasylirion leiophyllum is a species of flowering plant in the asparagus family known by the common names green sotol, smooth-leaf sotol, and smooth sotol. It is native to North America, where it occurs in Chihuahua and Coahuila in Mexico and New Mexico and western Texas in the United States. It was first collected by Valery Havard in 1880 and was described by William Trelease in 1911.
Yucca jaliscensis is a Yucca species native to the highlands of southwestern Mexico. Common names for this species include Jalisco Yucca, Jalisco Soapwort, Izote Yucca. It is native to mountainous areas at about 5000 feet in the States of Jalisco, Colima and Guanajuato.
Yucca grandifloraGentry is a plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to the Sierra Madre Occidental in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora.
Yucca carnerosana is a species of North American plants in the asparagus family. Common name is "Giant Spanish Dagger." In the United States, it is confined to only a few counties in western Texas. The species is, however, widely distributed in northern Mexico.
Agave weberi, known as maguey liso in Spanish and as Weber agave in English, is a succulent perennial plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Under the synonym Agave neglecta, it is known as wild century plant and Small agave – the latter in honor of its discoverer in Florida, John Kunkel Small. Naturalized populations in Florida were considered to be a separate species, but are now treated as synonymous with A. weberi.
Agave decipiens, common names False Sisal or Florida agave, is a plant species endemic to coastal Florida though cultivated as an ornamental in other regions. The species is reported naturalized in Spain, India, Pakistan, and South Africa.
Basketry of Mexico has its origins far into the pre Hispanic period, pre-dating ceramics and the domestication of fire. By the time the Spanish arrived, there were a number of indigenous forms, a number of which are still made today. These and products that the Spanish introduced form the combined tradition that remains today. Like other Mexican handcrafts, sales to tourists and collectors is important, but basketry is not as popular as other handcrafts. Basketry techniques and materials vary from region to region depending on the vegetation available, with important traditions in Sonora, State of Mexico, Michoacán, Veracruz, Oaxaca and the Yucatán Peninsula.
