Agave — Introduction
Agave is a whole genus that sometimes is confused with aloes and cacti, and even they share similar morphological adaptations to arid environments, they are different families.
The taxonomy of agaves has been extensively studied; however, wild plants are difficult to identify unequivocally due to, among other things, morphological differences, and that the same type can be know by different names in different regions.
Source: Monja-Mio, K. M., Herrera-Alamillo, M. A., Sánchez-Teyer, L. F., & Robert, M. L. (2019). Breeding Strategies to Improve Production of Agave (Agave spp.). Advances in Plant Breeding Strategies: Industrial and Food Crops, 319–362. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23265-8_10
Agaves are Monocots order Asparagales and family Aspargaceae with subfamily Agavoideae. The specific taxonomy can be found in the next 2 images.
Taxonomy
We can review the taxonomy in the Angiosperm Phylogeny website (or APweb) which is a well-known website dedicated to research on angiosperm phylogeny and taxonomy to review the phylogenetic tree for Agaves.
The Agave genus includes more than 300 species. In May 220, they were 360 of species registered and approved in the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (aka WCSP), which is an “international collaborative program” that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonums of selected plant families.
In México, we can find in the Botanical Garden of the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), one of the most relevant collections made up of agaves or magueyes, along with the yuccas or izotes, the amoles, pitas and pokers, all belonging to the recently -and with molecular bases- Asparagaceae family and Agavoideae subfamily.
The collection began on the initiative of Dr. Faustino Miranda in 1959. In 1989 the remodeling began, managing to form a scientific collection that has the largest group diversity, that is properly documented, and is used as basis for research projects and environmental education. For all this and more, on October 27, 1994, the Mexican Association of Botanic Gardens, A.C. (AMJB — Asociación Mexicana de Jardines Botánicos) gave the dinstiction of National Collection of Agaváceas.
Source: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. (2019). The National Collection Of Agavaceae At The Botanic Garden, UNAM. IV International Symposium On Agave Integral and Sustainable Use of the AgaveIV, 24, Oaxaca, México.
