Agavaceae Agave parryi Engelm.

Parry's Agave

Apache, Chiricahua & Mescalero - Food, Unspecified

Use documented by:
Castetter, Edward F. and M. E. Opler, 1936, Ethnobiological Studies in the American Southwest III. The Ethnobiology of the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache, University of New Mexico Bulletin 4(5):1-63, page 35

View all documented uses for Agave parryi Engelm.

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Scientific name: Agave parryi Engelm.
USDA symbol: AGPAP5 (View details at USDA PLANTS site)
Common names: Parry's Agave
Family: Agavaceae
Family (APG): Asparagaceae
Native American Tribe: Apache, Chiricahua & Mescalero
Use category: Food
Use sub-category: Unspecified
Notes: Bulbous crowns baked in pits, pulpy centers released, pounded into thin sheets and eaten. The Mescalero Apache were named for the food they made from mescal. In the pits where the crowns were baked, the largest rock was placed in the center and a cross made on it from black ashes. While the mescal baked, the women were supposed to stay away from their husbands, and if the crown was not completely roasted when removed from the pit, they were believed to have disobeyed.

RECRD: 40061 id: 1803

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