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Curiouser, and Curiouser,
The Tale of Agave phillipsiana
And How This Plant Continually Changes
our Understanding of the Diversity
and Importance of Agaves in Arizona
Wendy C. Hodgson
Agave Is Life
Edward Curtis, 1907,
Smithsonian Institution
Carrying on the tradition, 2006
deborahsmall.wordpress.com
Food – Used for 8000 - 11000 years!
Leaf base
Heart, or
“cabeza”
Roasted Agave Resulting In…
Leaf bases
Heart, or
“cabeza”
Fiber
Pai artisans/crafters
(Agave deserti; Verde Valley Archaeology Fair,
2007)
Beverage
Agaves - Well Documented History of
Use in Mexico!
… but Agaves in the Southwest U.S.
Minor importance
Little data on
possible preColumbian use
First Archaeological Evidence - Agaves
Extensively Cultivated North of Mexico
Miksicek (1984) and Fish et al. (1985)
DBG Researchers and Collaborators
We Propose
• Agaves were extensively cultivated in
Arizona
We Propose
• Agaves were extensively cultivated in
Arizona
• Extensive trading and movement of
plants
Hohokam Agave, Agave murpheyi Gibson
Hohokam Agave, Agave murpheyi
Rock piles
Agave delamateri
Hodgson
& Slauson
Tonto Basin
Agave
Tonto Basin Agave
Agave delamateri Hodgson & Slauson
Rose Collom – First Botanist of
Grand Canyon National Park in 1932
Grand Canyon Agave
Clear Creek
www.travelandescape.ca, photos
Grand Canyon Agave
Deer Creek
Agave phillipsiana Hodgson
Phantom/Haunted Canyon
Grand Canyon Agave in Grand Canyon
Tapeats Creek
Deer Creek
Modred Abyss
Phantom/Haunted
Clear Creek
Grand Canyon Agave Known Distribution
Sacred Mountain Agave
Agave verdensis Hodgson & Salywon
Sacred Mountain Agave
Page Springs Agave
Agave yavapaiensis Hodgson & Salywon
Page Springs Agave
Interdisciplinary Research Questions
• How, where and when did plants originate?
Morphological Comparisons
delamateri
murpheyi
phillipsiana
verdensis
yavapiensis
photo: Jon Hawker
Chromosome Number & Behavior
Pollen Morphology
Molecular Analyses
Comparisons between
and amongst species
And Information regarding:
Biogeography
Ethnobotany
Archaeology
Ecology
Interdisciplinary Research Questions
• Where and when did plants originate?
• Why were they cultivated and domesticated?
Possible Traits Selected for in Agaves
Leaves easily cut and
small, marginal teeth
Agave knife
Possible Traits Selected –
Time of Flowering (thus Harvesting)
And Taste!
Agave roasts In
collaboration with
DBG, USFS, ASU,
Yavapai, Hualapai and
Apache tribes
How Do Our Domesticates Compare?
The verdict?
Sweetest:
A. verdensis
A. yavapaiensis
A. phillipsiana
Least sweet:
A. chrysantha
A. parryi
Other Possible Traits Selected
Asexual reproduction
Interdisciplinary Research Questions
• Where and when did plants originate?
• Why were they cultivated and domesticated?
• How often were they introduced into specific
areas and were they traded?
Hohokam Agave and Tonto Basin Agave
Parker, et al. 2007.
American Journal of Botany 94:1479-1490.
Grand Canyon Agave
Agave phillipsiana
Interdisciplinary Research Questions
• Where and when did plants originate?
• Why were they cultivated and domesticated?
• How often were they introduced into specific
areas and were they traded?
• How extensively were they cultivated?
Domesticated/Cultivated Agaves in Arizona
Agave phillipsiana
Areas of Agave cultivation
Safford
PreColumbian
Gardens,Arizona
Safford, AZ
Safford
Grids, Safford,
Interdisciplinary Research Questions
• Where and when did plants originate?
• Why were they cultivated and domesticated?
• How often were they introduced into specific
areas?
• How extensively were they cultivated?
• Were cultivation techniques different in
different areas?
Scott Seibel, Seibel Studios
http://www.seibelstudio.com/blog/?p=104
Agave phillipsiana, Verde Valley
Hassayampa River…
Tonto Basin
Grand Canyon
Sedona
Sedona
Interdisciplinary Research Questions
• Where and when did plants originate?
• Why were they cultivated and domesticated?
• How often were they introduced into specific
areas?
• How extensively were they cultivated?
• Were cultivation techniques different in
different areas?
• What other agaves were cultivated or
domesticated in the Southwest?
Are there other cryptic species new
to science and yet to be discovered?
Agua Fria National Monument
A New Agave?
San Pedro River
Corridor
Another New
Agave!
And, Another New
Agave?
We Concluded:
• Agaves were even more extensively
cultivated in Arizona
• Extensive trading and movement of
plants
• Arizona harbors at least six Agave
domesticates!
Arizona Agaves:
• 23 taxa, 13 are endemic
to AZ
• Nearly half of endemic
taxa are pre-Columbian
domesticates – distinct
lineages!
Intensity of Farming/
Number of Plants
How Are Our PreColumbian Agave
Domesticate Populations Doing?
X
800 – 1200 A.D.
Time
1985 - 2015
A.D. Extinction
Extirpation
Protection of Rare Species Wild or Manipulated by People Are They Both Protected by the
Endangered Species Act?
NO
Arizona claret-cup cactus,
Echinocereus arizonicus
Sacred Mtn Agave,
Agave verdensis
Should the ESA Protect These and
Other Rare Ethnobotanically Important
Resources/Species?
“Do we define a natural ecosystem without
Homo sapiens in areas where indigenous
people have clearly been a part?
Burgess, M. 1994. Cultural Responsibilities in the preservation
of local economic plant resources. Biodiversity and
Conservation 3: 126-136
The ESA and Endangered
Domesticate Species
“If an indigenous culture dies, any plant
dependent upon that culture for survival
somehow deserves to go extinct.”
Burgess, M. 1994. Cultural Responsibilities in the preservation
of local economic plant resources. Biodiversity and
Conservation 3: 126-136.
Other Research Questions
• What other agaves were cultivated or
domesticated in the Southwest?
• Were native agaves cultivated?
Parry’s Agave
Agave parryi
Agave parryi var. parryi
on Mogollon Rim and var.
huachucensis of SE Arizona
and N Mexico
Minnis and Plog. 1976.
Parker, et al. 2010. Molecular Ecology 19(8):
1622-1637.
Parker et al. 2014. Annals of Botany. doi:
10.1093/aob/mcu016
What other plants were
cultivated or domesticated in the
Southwest?
Engelmann prickly-pear
Opuntia engelmannii
Clear Creek
www.travelandescape.ca, photos
Banana Yucca, Yucca baccata
Banana Yucca, Yucca baccata
Chia, Salvia columbariae
Deborah Small photo
deborahsmall.wordpress.com
Chia, Salvia columbariae
What is the Landscape Telling Us?
Cultural
vs. “natural
landscape”
Biocultural
Landscape
Grand Canyon
More than just beautiful, awe-inspiring
views, neat geology and weird squirrels!
Thank You!
Agave phillipsiana and friends