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Search Issues: Update 2026-09-16 - Repairs to some of our search pages are ongoing. Thank you for your continued patience!
Meanwhile, elements of the Advanced Search are working and the Alphabetical Listings are working, too.
maguey stalk(s) (see attestations); literally, female-maguey parts
These stalks or broad leaves of the maguey (agave plant) are still used in recipes in Mexico today, such as for wrapping lamb for roasting in a fire. Red worms are also harvested from the branches or "pencas" (stalks, Spanish) of the maguey. If this agave plant is gendered, the central phallus is male and the surrounding branches/stalks are apparently female (given the female-maguey literal translation of this term).
yuan yni ciuametzin no ontetl = y las pencas madres que también son dos (Tlaxcala, s. XVI)