Agave fourcroydes

The leaves of Agave fourcroydes yield a fiber also called henequen, which is suitable for rope and twine but not of as high a quality as sisal.^[3] It is the major plantation fiber agave of eastern Mexico, being grown extensively in Yucatán, Veracruz, and Tamaulipas.^{[citation needed]} It is also used to make licor del henequén, a traditional Mexican alcoholic drink.^{[citation needed]}

The plant appears as a rosette of sword-shaped leaves 1.2–1.8 metres (3.9–5.9 ft) meters long, growing out of a thick stem that may reach 1.7 meters (5 ft).^{[citation needed]} The leaves have regularly spaced teeth 3–6 mm long and a terminal spine 2–3 cm long.^{[citation needed]}

Like sisal, A. fourcroydes is a sterile hybrid;^{[according to whom?]} the ovaries never produce seeds.^{[citation needed]} The plant does produce bulbils that may be planted, but commercial growers prefer to use the frequent suckers, which develop more quickly.^{[citation needed]}

The first person of Spanish descent to document the plant and its usefulness for ropes and other naval utensils was José María Lanz,^{[according to whom?]} a Mexican-born engineer in service of the Spanish Navy, who studied henequen in Yucatán in 1783.^{[non-primary source needed]}

Henequen, like other species of agave, is used in the production of mezcal.^{[citation needed]}

• 
  Henequen farm in Yucatán Peninsula.
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  Henequen being harvested in 1922 for pulp to make paper.
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• Henequen industry in Yucatán
• International Year of Natural Fibres 2009