DESERT SCENES IN ZACATECAS 44 5 



and spreads apart slightly, so that a few seeds are easily shaken out 

 by a gust of wind. The inflorescence, though dead, may stand for 

 a year or more, and the seeds that it bears may be scattered over a 

 wide area. 



Before this plant comes into bloom the tender apex of the short 

 stem is often used as food. Out in isolated places among the moun- 

 tains one may come upon a rude circle of heavy stones bordering a 

 shallow pit. The Mexican would say that here they were preparing 

 quiote by taking the hearts of the magueys and roasting them in the 

 pit. Upon further inquiry he will say that these morsels are covered 

 with earth and stones and the fire built over them and kept for some 

 hours. The older leaves yield a fiber for cordage, though this plant to a 

 less degree than its larger relative, A. americana. Many uses are found 

 for the maguey; in fact hardly any other plant of Mexico serves the 

 people in so many ways as this one. It provides food and drink, it 

 yields fine strong fibers for ropes, fabrics and other articles. It has 

 served in the manufacture of paper and enters into the construction of 

 fences and buildings. It formerly found use in religious rites and was 

 part of the material of weapons. 



As ornamental plants the cultivated magueys are hard to beat. Dur- 

 ing its fifteen years' or more life it produces relatively few leaves, but 

 towards the close of its span of years one hundred or more of these may 

 be in evidence, each somewhat narrow, six to ten feet in length and 

 often weighing as much as one hundred pounds. Most of them are a 

 dull dark green, some are margined with yellow or yellowish green. 

 They are often planted as hedges or borders, and as such they are very 

 attractive to look at. The short stem which in all the years has not at- 

 tained a height of two feet now suddenly shoots up to thirty feet, its 

 outstanding branches in symmetrical order enhancing its dignity and 

 beauty beyond that of most other plants. 



On the slopes of many foothills that rise from the edge of the desert 

 plain and often on the higher slopes in great profusion, one finds a 

 stately plant which is always conspicuous and always beautiful. Some- 

 thing about the sotol makes it especially attractive, with its pale green 

 leaves an inch wide and a yard long, the tips of which often overtop a 

 man's head. But these leaves, though beautiful to look upon, are well 

 armed against any invader by means of many forward set teeth along 

 their margins. In fact, a leaf of Dasylirion is like a piece of double- 

 edged band saw. 



Under the hot sun of May and June the flower stalk ascends from 

 the center of the crown of leaves and carries its topmost flowers to 

 twice the height of the horseman riding by. These flowers, unlike 

 those of the maguey, are small and borne on a long and slender, though 

 compact panicle ; they are monoecious, therefore not all the tall stems 



