Agaves have played an important role in the southwest for centuries. But researchers still don’t know all the ways they’ve been used over the years.

Wendy Hodgson, though, is trying to figure it out. She’s a senior research botanist and herbarium curator at the Desert Botanical Garden. She spends a lot of time hunting for agaves, including new species.

Her work, and that of her colleagues, is featured in the February edition of Arizona Highways Magazine.