 Gentry hypothesized a Chiapas origin, on the strength of traditional local usage.Evidence of an indigenous cottage industry there suggests it as the original habitat location, possibly as a cross of "Agave angustifolia" and "Agave kewensis".The species is now naturalized in other parts of Mexico, as well as in Spain, Libya, Morocco, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, many parts of Africa, Madagascar, Réunion, Seychelles, China, the Ryukyu Islands, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, the Solomon Islands, Queensland, Polynesia, Micronesia, Fiji, Hawaii, Florida, Central America, Ecuador, and the West Indies.