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|     By Gayla SandersEthnobotany is the science of tracing the history of humanity by studying the various uses different cultures have had for plants. There are some plants that from an ethnobotanic standpoint can only be described as super. Like superheroes, they kick ass for humanity, not because they want to, but because they just happen to have that ability. These are the kinds of plants that not only have a variety of nutritional and food uses, but can also be used for spiritual reasons, medicinal purposes and even be fashioned into all sorts of useful tools, objects and materials. A few months ago I traveled to Oaxaca City, Mexico, one of Mexico’s southern-most states. While there, I visited the Ethnobotanic gardens at the Temple of Santo Domingo, Oaxaca City’s largest church. In the garden I saw several species of the giant succulent agave, a plant that can only be described as Mexico’s super plant.
The indigenous territory of the genus agave (agavaceae)
spans from the Southern United States, down to South America. Mexico alone
has approximately 200 varieties. Its use to humans is so expansive that
Linneous, the inventor of Binomial Nomenclature (the system of
classification of living organisms), was compelled to name the agave after
the Greek word for ‘noble’. Agave has been cultivated for use by humans for
clothing, food, ritualized drink (such as mezcal and pulque), and medicine
for several thousands of years. The ancient Mesoamericans were the first to
test the limits of its properties, but it is still widely used today. Agave
is the primary ingredient in two of Mexico’s most popular and infamous
exports, tequila and mezcal (the drink with the worm) and is as well the
source of sisal (a fibre used to make rugs).
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 Santo Domingo Temple- Oaxaca City, Mexico  Santo Domingo Temple- Oaxaca City, Mexico |
