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SPECIES: Agave lechuguilla | Lechuguilla
ABBREVIATION : AGALEC SYNONYMS : Agave lecheguilla Agave lophantha var. poselgeri SCS PLANT CODE : AGLE COMMON NAMES : lechuguilla lecheguilla shindagger TAXONOMY : The currently accepted scientific name of lechuguilla is Agave lechuguilla Torr. [15,16]. In Mexico, lechuguilla hybridizes with Agave lophantha [15]. LIFE FORM : Shrub FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : No special status OTHER STATUS : NO-ENTRY COMPILED BY AND DATE : Ronald Uchytil/October 1990 LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : NO-ENTRY AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : Uchytil, Ronald J. 1990. Agave lechuguilla. In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE

SPECIES: Agave lechuguilla | Lechuguilla
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : Lechuguilla is essentially restricted to and is considered an indicator species of the Chihuahuan Desert [15]. It occurs from southeastern New Mexico and western Texas southward to the Mexican states of Mexico and Hidalgo [10,15]. ECOSYSTEMS : FRES30 Desert shrub FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub FRES35 Pinyon - juniper FRES40 Desert grasslands STATES : NM TX MEXICO ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : AMIS BIBE CACA GUMO BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 7 Lower Basin and Range 13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland K031 Oak - juniper woodland K044 Creosotebush - tarbush K054 Grama - tobosa prairie K058 Grama - tobosa shrubsteppe K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna SAF COVER TYPES : 239 Pinyon -juniper 241 Western live oak SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : NO-ENTRY HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : Lechuguilla is the characteristic leaf succulent of numerous climax plant communities in the Chihuahuan Desert [15]. The following publication lists lechuguilla as a dominant species in some communities: Fire ecology study of the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park, Texas: Phase I. [8]

VALUE AND USE

SPECIES: Agave lechuguilla | Lechuguilla
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : NO-ENTRY IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : Livestock: Lechuguilla leaves are poisonous to cattle, goats, and sheep but are rarely eaten [15,32]. Cattle frequently eat the flowering stalks of small Agaves [15]. Wildlife: Few mammals inhabit lechuguilla-dominated areas. Desert mule deer and desert rodents, especially pocket mice, cactus mice, kangaroo rats, and pocket gophers, are the most common residents [4,7]. Mule deer and collared peccaries eat small 2- to 5-inch tall rhizomatous offsets [17,26]. Mule deer may consume large numbers of the flower stalks [17]. Pocket gophers eat the "core" of the plant [17]. Bats and hummingbirds often consume lechuguilla pollen and nectar [15]. Flickers, doves, pigeons, wrens, ravens, parrots, and the crested caracara feed on lechuguilla pollen, nectar, and flowers [15]. PALATABILITY : Lechuguilla is unpalatable or of very low palatability to livestock. Mule deer preference for lechuguilla is rated as high during fall, winter, and spring, and low during the summer [30]. NUTRITIONAL VALUE : Lechuguilla flowers are a good source of water and energy for animals [11]. The nectar is sweet, syrupy, and nutritious [15]. Leaves contain a toxic saponin and are poisonous to livestock [15]. Data from a nutritional analysis of lechuguilla leaves is presented below [3]: Percentage of oven dry weight ------------------------------- crude fiber ash protein 30.7 6.96 3.68 COVER VALUE : Lechuguilla often occurs in dense stands which presumably provide cover for small wildlife species. VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : NO-ENTRY OTHER USES AND VALUES : Lechuguilla's central bud is an excellent source of hard fibers, known as "istle" or "ixtle," which are used in making twine and rope, sacks, mats, cushions, stuffings, and brushes [15,23]. Recent research shows that lechuguilla fibers are comparable to glass fibers, and may also be used in construction materials [2]. In northern Mexico, thousands of people harvest wild plants each year for fiber [31]. Natural stands occur mostly on rocky, broken terrain unsuitable for tillage. Thus, a vast supply of wild plants is available for harvest. Lechuguilla has recently been considered as a source for steroid drug manufacture because the leaves contain significant amounts of the steroid precurser, smilogenin [15]. Native Americans used lechuguilla as a source of fiber for clothing, rope, sleeping mats, sandals, and baskets [6]. They also ate various plant parts. Inflorescences, stems, and unfolded leaves were roasted or boiled before eating, which broke down glucans into digestible sugars [23,31]. Lechuguilla leaves and roots contain saponins and were often used by Native Americans to produce soaps [6]. Lechuguilla is cultivated as an ornamental landscape plant [33,35]. Landowners sometimes sell wild plants to homeowners or to nurseries for resale [33]. MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : Hazards: Lechuguilla leaves are rigid and sharp. They can puncture vehicle tires, cut animal and human legs, and even impale a rider thrown from a horse [21]. Livestock poisoning: Sheep and goats are more likely to be poisoned by lechuguilla than cattle are. Cattle are occasionally poisoned, but usually only during drought or when there is a shortage of good forage [32]. Affected animals have a loss of appetite, are listless, and make no effort to get up with the herd or flock. They become progessively weaker, emaciated, and eventually die. A complete list of clinical signs and treatment of affected livestock is available [32]. Productivity: Lechuguilla productivity can be significantly increased with irrigation during the dry season, or with applications of nitrogen, phosphorus, or boron [25,27].

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

SPECIES: Agave lechuguilla | Lechuguilla
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : Lechuguilla is a perennial, evergreen leaf succulent. Up to 50 thick and rigid, ascending to erect, sharply pointed, linear-lanceolate, light green to yellow green, 10- to 20-inch-tall (25-50 cm) leaves form a basal rosette [15]. Lechuguilla often occurs in extensive colonies with several thousand rosettes per acre because clones or offsets are produced on rhizomes [15,23]. Rhizomes are fleshy and thick, and the roots are fibrous and shallow, seldom extending more than 4 or 5 inches (10-12 cm) below the soil surface [23,24]. Individual rosettes flower once and then die. When they flower, the central bud of the rosette grows into a 8- to 11.5-foot-tall (2.5-3.5 m) stalk, with purplish or yellow flowers occurring in clusters in a spikelike panicle at the apex [15,35]. The fruit is a brown to black, oblong nearly cylindrical capsule, about 0.6 to 1.0 inch (1.5-2.5 cm) long [35]. RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : Hemicryptophyte Geophyte REGENERATION PROCESSES : Reproductive Strategy: Because lechuguilla occurs in an environment where seedling survival is rare, it reproduces almost entirely by rhizomes, with populations composed primarily of a series of clones [10,12]. Nevertheless, lechuguilla produces large numbers of seeds, and sexual reproduction may occasionally occur when conditions for germination and seedling establishment are optimal. Vegetative reproduction: Young offset clones are produced by rhizomes of the parent plant [23]. Flower and fruit production: Individuals are monocarpic, flowering only once at the end of the plant's life cycle, which may be between the age of 3 and 20 years [11,31,35]. In general, populations flower extensively each year [11]. Flowers are pollinated by numerous insects and animals which feed on the sweet nectar. Pollinators include moths, bees, wasps, beetles, bats, and hummingbirds [11,23]. Many capsules are produced along a spikelike panicle, each producing up to several hundred seeds [10]. Seed dispersal: The erect capsules are longitudinally dehiscent. The seeds are gradually shaken out of the cracks by animals and wind [15]. Most seeds fall near the parent plant, but strong winds may blow some seeds several hundred feet [15]. Germination and establishment: Lechuguilla seeds are not dormant and may germinate as soon as they fall to the soil surface if moisture is sufficient [10]. Light is not required for germination. In laboratory experiments, seeds germinated well whether placed on the soil surface or buried beneath soil [10]. Optimal germination temperatures are between 77 and 86 degrees F (25-30 C), although seeds will germinate over a broad range of temperatures (59 to 104 degrees F [15-40 C]) [10]. Only about 50 percent as many seeds germinate if temperatures are 21.6 degrees F (12 C) below optimum or 14.4 degrees F (8 C) above optimum [23]. Germination is suppressed by alternating temperatures which include exposure to 104 degrees F (40 C) for only 4 hours each day [11]. Under natural conditions, germination appears to occur primarily in protected microhabitats toward the end of the summer rainy period when soil temperatures are close to those optimal for germination [23]. SITE CHARACTERISTICS : Lechuguilla is restricted to the Chihuahuan Desert. It is most commonly found above the shrubby plains, on rocky, limestone derived soils of mountain slopes, foothills, bajadas, and mesas [4,11,15]. These habitats are often dominated by leaf (Agave spp., Hechtia spp.) and stem (Yucca spp., Dasylirion spp.) succulents [4]. Lechuguilla may be the primary plant, with dense stands averaging up to 12,145 rosettes per acre (30,000/ha) [15] or it may codominate with other shrubs, such as smooth sotol (Dasylirion leiophyllum), creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), skeleton goldeneye (Viguiera stenoloba), oneseed juniper (Juniperus monosperma) and ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) [7,8,14,29,36]. Other common associates include grama grasses (Bouteloua spp.), threeawns (Aristida spp.), cacti (Opuntia spp.), mariola (Parthenium incanum), rocktrumpet (Macrosiphonia spp.), and smallseed sacahuiste (Nolina microcarpa) [7,8,14,29]. Soils: Lechuguilla is primarily restricted to light-colored and highly calcareous, limestone-derived soils [10]. It occasionally occurs on igneous and sandy substrates, but on these soils, populations are much less dense [11]. Limestone soils may be derived from either primary sedimentaries or caliche [15]. Lechuguilla is usually absent from volcanic areas [15]. In Big Bend National Park, smooth sotol-lechuguilla-dominated communities occur on both limestone and igneous rock, with soil textures of fine sands, silts, and silt-clay loams [7]. The pH of igneous and limestone soils in Big Bend National Park is similar, ranging from 8.0 to 8.9 [7]. Elevation: Lechuguilla occurs from about 972 to 5,906 feet (300-1,800 m) in elevation [12] but is most common below 4,922 feet (1,500 m) [11]. Along the Guadalupe Escarpment in New Mexico and Texas, lechuguilla is usually the dominant shrub between 3,800 and 4,600 feet (1,158 and 1,402 m) [14]. At elevations above 4,000 feet (1,219 m), lechuguilla often occurs in the understory of oak chaparral (Quercus grisea, Q. gravesii) and woodlands which may be dominated by Mexican pinyon (Pinus cembroides), ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa), alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana), oneseed juniper, Texas madrone (Arbutus texana), and bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum) [7,36]. SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : Obligate Climax Species Lechuguilla is characteristic of climax Chihuahuan Desert shrub communities. SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : New lechuguilla leaves unfold from the central spike during the relatively wet summer and early fall. About one new leaf unfolds per month during this time of the year, for a total of about six or seven new leaves per plant over the entire year [24,27]. During most years flowering occurs during May and June; however, flowering may be infrequent or extend as late as October if the preceeding rainy season or winter was particularly dry [11]. Near El Paso, Texas, flower shaft growth was found to be rapid, peaking at 7.8 inches (20 cm) per day and reaching an average shaft length of 8.5 feet (2.6 m) in 3 to 4 weeks [11]. Resources for flower stalk growth are drawn mainly from the leaves.

FIRE ECOLOGY

SPECIES: Agave lechuguilla | Lechuguilla
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : Lechuguilla does not appear to be highly adapted to fire. It often occurs in dense stands which readily carry fire, burn hot, and suffer high mortality [17]. However, a small percentage of plants sometimes survive and produce rhizomatous offsets [1]. Some plants may also escape fire because they occur in protected, rocky microhabitats [17]. It is possible that some plants may become established from wind-dispersed seed from nearby unburned plants; however, seedling establishment is a rare event, requiring both cool temperatures and moist soil [12]. POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : Rhizomatous shrub, rhizome in soil Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)

FIRE EFFECTS

SPECIES: Agave lechuguilla | Lechuguilla
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : Lechuguilla is susceptible to high mortality following fire. Plants usually die if more than 50 percent of their leaves are scorched [17]. An August wildfire east of Big Bend National Park reduced lechuguilla cover from 2.4 percent to 0.03 percent (a 98.8 percent reduction); the number of rosettes was reduced by 90 percent [5]. Although rhizomes are sufficiently insulated belowground, food reserves and water are stored in the leaves, which are easily damaged. Lechuguilla is therefore generally unable to recover vegatively by producing new offset plants. DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : NO-ENTRY PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : Because it suffers high mortality, lechuguilla frequency and cover probably remain well below preburn levels for many years. In the Guadalupe Mountains, sampling of several burns showed that 3 to 7 years after these fires occurred, lechuguilla's average cover on burned sites was only 19 percent of that on unburned sites [1]. DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : NO-ENTRY FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : NO-ENTRY

References for species: Agave lechuguilla


1. Ahlstrand, Gary M. 1982. Response of Chihuahuan Desert mountain shrub vegetation to burning. Journal of Range Management. 35(1): 62-65. [296]
2. Belmares, Hector; Castillo, J. Ernesto; Barrera, Arnold. 1979. Natural hard fibers of the North American Continent. Statistical correlations of physical and mechanical properties of lechuguilla fiber. Textile Research Journal. 49(11): 619-622. [12069]
3. Botkin, C. W.; Shires, L. B.; Smith, E. C. 1943. Fiber of native plants in New Mexico. Bulletin 300. Las Cruces, NM: New Mexico State University, Agricultural Experiment Station. 38 p. [5097]
4. Brown, David E. 1982. Chihuahuan desertscrub. In: Brown, David E., ed. Biotic communities of the American Southwest--United States and Mexico. Desert Plants. 4(1-4): 169-179. [3607]
5. Bunting, Stephen C.; Wright, Henry A. 1977. Effects of fire on desert mountain shrub vegetation in Trans-Pecos, Texas. In: Sosebee, Ronald E.; Wright, Henry A., eds. Research highlights: Noxious brush and weed control: range and wildlife management. Volume 8. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University: 14-15. [12205]
6. Castetter, Edward F.; Bell, Willis H.; Grove, Alvin R. 1938. The early utilization and the distribution of Agave in the American Southwest. The University of New Mexico Bulletin. Vol. 5, No. 4 (Whole number 335). Albuquerque, NM: The University of New Mexico Press. 92 p. [12060]
7. Denyes, H. Arliss. 1956. Natural terrestrial communities of Brewster County, Texas, with special reference to the distribution of the mammals. The American Midland Naturalist. 55(2): 289-320. [10862]
8. Dick-Peddie, William A.; Alberico, Michael S. 1977. Fire ecology study of the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park, Texas: Phase I. CDRI Contribution No. 35. Alpine, TX: The Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute. 47 p. [5002]
9. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
10. Freeman, C. E. 1973. Some germination responses of lechuguilla (Agave lechuguilla Torr.). The Southwestern Naturalist. 18(2): 125-134. [12234]
11. Freeman, C. Edward; Reid, William H. 1985. Aspects of the reproductive biology of Agave lechuguilla Torr. Desert Plants. 7(2): 75-80. [12035]
12. Freeman, C. E.; Tiffany, Robert S.; Reid, William H. 1977. Germination responses of Agave lechuguilla, A. parryi, and Fouquieria splendens. The Southwestern Naturalist. 22(2): 195-204. [2494]
13. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others]. 1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
14. Gehlbach, Frederick R. 1967. Vegetation of the Guadalupe Escarpment, New Mexico-Texas. Ecology. 48(3): 404-419. [5149]
15. Gentry, Howard Scott. 1982. Agaves of Continental North America. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press. 670 p. [12162]
16. Kartesz, John T.; Kartesz, Rosemarie. 1980. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. Volume II: The biota of North America. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press; in confederation with Anne H. Lindsey and C. Richie Bell, North Carolina Botanical Garden. 500 p. [6954]
17. Kittams, Walter H. 1973. Effect of fire on vegetation of the Chihuahuan Desert region. In: Proceedings, annual Tall Timbers fire ecology conference; 1972 June 8-9; Lubbock, Texas. No. 12. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 427-444. [6271]
18. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York: American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
19. Levin, Geoffrey A. 1988. How plants survive in the desert. Environment Southwest. Summer: 20-25. [9239]
20. Lyon, L. Jack; Stickney, Peter F. 1976. Early vegetal succession following large northern Rocky Mountain wildfires. In: Proceedings, Tall Timbers fire ecology conference and Intermountain Fire Research Council fire and land management symposium; 1974 October 8-10; Missoula, MT. No. 14. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 355-373. [1496]
21. MacMahon, James A. 1985. The Audubon Society nature guides: Deserts. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 638 p. [4956]
22. Muller, Cornelius H. 1940. Plant succession in the Larrea-Flourensia climax. Ecology. 21: 206-212. [4244]
23. Nobel, Park S. 1988. Environmental biology of agaves and cacti. New York: Cambridge University Press. 270 p. [12163]
24. Nobel, Park S.; Quero, Edgar. 1986. Environmental productivity indices for a Chihuahuan Desert CAM plant, Agave lechuguilla. Ecology. 67(1): 1-11. [12067]
25. Nobel, Park S.; Quero, Edgar; Linares, Heladio. 1989. Root versus shoot biomass: responses to water, nitrogen, and phosphorus applications for agave lechuguilla. Botanical Gazette. 150(4): 411-416. [12165]
26. Powell, A. Michael. 1988. Trees & shrubs of Trans-Pecos Texas including Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks. Big Bend National Park, TX: Big Bend Natural History Association. 536 p. [6130]
27. Quero, D.; Nobel, P. S. 1987. Predictions of field productivity for Agave lechuguilla. Journal of Applied Ecology. 24: 1053-1062. [12068]
28. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
29. Reid, William H.; Freeman, C. Edward; Echlin, R. Douglas. 1981. Soil and plant relationships in a Chihuahuan Desert Larrea-Agave community. The Southwestern Naturalist. 26(1): 85-88. [12235]
30. Severson, Kieth E.; Medina, Alvin L. 1983. Deer and elk habitat management in the Southwest. Journal of Range Management Monograph No. 2. Denver: Society for Range Management. 64 p. [2110]
31. Sheldon, Sam. 1980. Ethnobotany of Agave lechuguilla and Yucca carnerosana in Mexico's Zona Ixtlera. Economic Botany. 34(4): 376-390. [12063]
32. Sperry, O. E.; Dollahite, J. W.; Hoffman, G. O.; Camp, B. J. 1964. Texas plants poisonous to livestock. Report B-1028. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas Agricultural Extension Service. 59 p. [23510]
33. Steger, Robert E.; Beck, Reldon F. 1973. Range plants as ornamentals. Journal of Range Management. 26: 72-74. [12038]
34. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982. National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names. SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
35. Vines, Robert A. 1960. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of the Southwest. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. 1104 p. [7707]
36. Wester, David B.; Dahl, B. E. 1983. Vegetation below the eastern escarpment, Guadalupe Mountains National Park. In: Britton, Carlton M.; Guthery, Fred S., eds. Research Highlights--1983: Noxious brush and weed control; range and wildlife management. Vol. 14. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University: 21-22. [12314]
37. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 10 p. [20090]
38. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. [434]


[434] Index

Related categories for Species: Agave lechuguilla | Lechuguilla

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