Howard Scott Gentry

"' is unique in many ways. Endemic to the of Mexico and the United States, its broad, persistent, heavy leaves are unlike any of its associates. Its large edible seeds contain about 50% oil, which is directly used as a and as a . The oil has excellent qualities for many industrial and medicinal uses. Chemically it is a liquid wax and by is easily converted to a hard white wax. ’s singular characteristics as a , however, present many problems facing its development as a cultivated plant."

"In , s are scattered like gems in an arborescent matrix. They grow mainly upon the rocky slopes of hills and mountains and are generally lacking in the valleys and on the plains. Hence, the distributional pattern is islandlike. Compared with the massive populations of agaves in and in the , they are very sparse in Sonora. However, they are distinctly characteristic of the succulent component in the vegetation of our America deserts and arid regions ... … Desert species exist with about 5 inches or less annual precipitation and can endure rainless years; montane species receive 30 or more inches annual precipitation."

"In North America, perhaps had as much to do in fostering the beginnings of agriculture as any other of plants. In Agaveland anyone can plant and grow agaves. All that is needed is to dig up or pull up a young offset and bury its base in moist or dry soil, with or without roots, wherever it is wanted. If it does not strike root and grow the first season, the chances are that it will the next. (1965) has made a strong case that such transplants were the primary agricultural subjects of the . Compared with seeds, the shift of useful plants from the open wild site to camp or village was more obvious and direct with transplants, and their care, protection, and culture were simpler. The hunting and gathering tribes had good reason to regard agave with special attention, because agave supplied them with food, fiber, drink, shelter, and miscellaneous natural products. Protection may have been one use, for when planted around a cottage, the larger species make armed fences, a common practice in modern Mexico."

"Howard Gentry was an inspirational figure from an heroic age of arid plant science — exploring from horseback the of the in the 1930s, working on the wartime t in the 1940s, travelling around Iran in search of gum s and around the deserts of Arizona and California in search of in the 1950s."