This species is native to Central America, Mexico, the West Indies and northern South America.

[2] It is also reportedly naturalized in Florida.

[2] It is very common in Jamaica, where it is planted as a fence around pasture lands, on account of its prickly leaves.

The plant can be stripped of its pulp, soaked in water, and beaten with a wooden mallet, and it yields a fiber whence thread is made.

In Nicaragua and El Salvador it is used to make gruel.