| Abstract Detail
Economic Botany Section Hodgson, Wendy [1], Salywon, Andrew [1]. Two new Agave species (Agavaceae) from central Arizona and their putative pre-Columbian domesticated origins. Recent fieldwork in central Arizona has resulted in the discovery of two agaves that display low seed set, reproduce mainly by vegetative means, have restricted distributions, and cannot be readily assigned to any existing species. These agaves are closely associated with archaeological structures and features and can be found growing with other previously described pre-Columbian Agave domesticates. For these reasons, we propose that these new species, Agave verdensis and A. yavapaiensis, are clonal relict domesticates. The two species have affinities with A. shrevei, and A. delamateri, the latter also a central Arizona pre-Columbian domesticate, but are probably most likely related to another yet undescribed taxon from central Arizona. The discovery of these two new species brings the total number of putative Arizona Agave domesticates to five species and suggests that the importance of Agaves to the economy of pre-Columbian peoples in the area that is now Arizona is far greater than previously thought. Broader Impacts:
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1 - Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 N Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, AZ, 85008-3490, USA
Keywords:
Agavaceae
Agave
Arizona
domesticate
pre-Columbian.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 1
Location: Napoleon Ballroom/Riverside Hilton
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2013
Time: 10:15 AM
Number: 1009
Abstract ID:883
Candidate for Awards:None |
