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Century plants (Agaves) are found wild in deserts or other 
dry places in continental tropical and sub-tropical America and 
in the West Indies; in the Spanish-speaking lands they are called 
“maguey’’; in the Lesser Antilles ‘“‘karata’; in the Bahamas, 
curiously, ‘bam Most species are stemless or nearly so, 
in the ordinary ae condition, and of rather slow growth. 
Two species are native in southern Florida and about twenty in 
the southwestern States. The American century plant is com- 
monly found in cultivation in many parts of the world, and is said 
to have been introduced into Europe about 1561. It is probably 
native of Mexico. A variety of this species, with golden-striped 
leaves, is also largely grown for ornament. The name “century 
plant” has been applied to these plants from the mistaken idea 
that they must be one hundred years old before blooming, a 
notion probably due to the fact that plants under cultivation 
in conservatories bloom much later in life than those in their 
natural surroundings. On the table-lands of Mexico, where cen- 
tury plants are extensively grown, they flower when they are 
from seven to ten years 0 
Century plants have many uses; some species bear thick, fleshy 
leaves containing a large quantity of strong fiber, which is often 
removed by beating, after the leaves have been allowed to soak 
in water until the fleshy parts partly decay. The fiber is then 
carefully clipped and done up in large bales, when it is shipped 
away to be made into rope. Sisal or hennequin is the most 
important of these fibers. Aztec manuscripts were largely writ- 
ten or painted on paper made from the leaves of century plants, 
and it was long considered equal to the papyrus of Egypt. The 
leaves of some species are used by the poorer classes of Mexico 
to thatch their cottages, while a large, fat worm which lives in 
these leaves is pulled out and enjoyed as a great delicacy by the 
Indians. Mats, vinegar, molasses and various other articles are 
also derived from these plants. 
ulque, the national drink of the Mexicans, is obtained from 
several species of century-plants. At the time when the great 
flower-clusters are about to be produced, harvesters go through 
the plantations and cut out the incipient stalks, at the same time 
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