The large seeds from the fruit were ground into meal for other uses. The eight agave species found in the Southwest were extremely valuable to the Indians and were used as trade items. The leaves, flower stalk, blossoms and seeds could be eaten. Juice from the young flower stalk was, and is, the main ingredient in tequila. Agave fibers were used to make bowstrings, brushes, cradles, nets, slings, shoes and many other products.
Uncooked leaves are poisonous and the leaf juice was used to poison arrow tips.
Other important food plants were the oaks, California buckeye, California laurel, chia and toyon. Popular drink plants were the Mexican tea, barberry and sugar bush. For fiber and basketry, the yuccas, bear and deer grasses, Indian hemp and, interestingly enough, poison oak. Apparently, the full-blooded Indians suffered either slightly, or not at all, from the effects of poison oak. Some of these plants have poisonous properties if not prepared properly and some are endangered species.