Agave cupreata is a species of plant in the family Asparagaceae, and is found only on mountain slopes of the Rio Balsas basin in the Mexican states of Michoacán and Guerrero at elevations of .Gentry, H.S., 1982. Agaves of Continental North America. The University of Arizona press, Tucson, Arizona. A. cupreata is a long-lived plant with mature leaves reaching between in length and a flowering stalk of . The age of maturity for A. cupreata is variable, but generally occurs at any time from 5–15 years.Illsley, C., Tlacotempa, A., Rivera, G., Morales, P., Garcia, J., Casarrubias, L., Calzada, M., Calzada, R., Carranca, C., Flores, J., Omar, E., 2005. Maguey papalote: para todo mal, mezcal; para todo bien, tambien. In: Lopez, C., Chanfon, S., Segura, G. (Eds.), La riqueza de los bosques mexicanos: mas alla de la madera. SEMARNAT, Mexico. A monocarpic perennial which does not reproduce clonally, A. cupreata allocates its accumulated resources toward the production of a single inflorescence and dies following the production of seeds.Nobel, P.S., 1988. Environmental Biology of Agaves and Cacti. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Communities in the mountains of Guerrero harvest and make mezcal out of Agave cupreata, known locally as maguey papalote.
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