A genus of plants (order ) of which the chief species is the maguey or century plant (), wrongly called Aloe. It takes from ten to seventy years, according to climate, to attain maturity, when it produces a gigantic flower stem, sometimes forty feet in height, and perishes. The juice has purgative and diuretic properties. The fermented juice is the of the Mexicans; distilled, it yields . A strong thread and a tough paper are made from the leaves, and the wood has many uses.