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• Conservation Status
• Taxonomy
• Physical Description
• Distribution
• Reproduction
• Growth
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
• More Info
• Notes
• Keep Exploring

Conservation Status

Uses as Product: Berry/Nut/Seed Product: No • Christmas Tree Product: No • Fodder Product: No • Fuelwood Product: None • Lumber Product: No • Naval Store Product: No • Nursery Stock Product: No • Post Product: No • Protein Potential: Low • Pulpwood Product: No • Veneer Product: No

Edibility: Palatable Browse Animal: Low • Palatable Human: Yes • Toxicity: Slight

Taxonomy

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 14:247. 1879

Name verified on 09-May-1996 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 09-May-1996

Physical Description

Genus Nolina:

Plants perennial, cespitose or arborescent, acaulescent to short-caulescent, scapose, from branched, woody caudices or bulblike structures; usually forming colonies with few to many rosettes. Stems to 25 dm. Leaves forming rosettes; blade linear, not rigid or fibrous, bases broadly expanding, margins serrulate or entire. Scape 0.5-25 dm. Inflorescences paniculate, rarely racemose, 3-18 dm; bracts caducous or occasionally persistent. Flowers 2-5 per node, functionally unisexual, pistillate flowers with staminodes, staminate flowers with reduced pistils; tepals white to cream or tan, 1.3-5 mm, apex glandular; ovary superior; pedicel jointed near middle. Fruits capsular, 3-locular, 3-lobed, thin-walled or sometimes firm-walled, often inflated, mostly notched at base and apex or rounded distally; dehiscent, often splitting irregularly. Seeds closely or loosely invested in capsules, globose, turgid. x = 19.

Species ca. 30: North America (se and sw United States), n and nc Mexico.

In areas of west Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, the species of Nolina are not always well defined. There is variation in the presence or absence of marginal teeth on the leaves and placement of the inflorescences within or beyond the leaves. Collectors should take good notes about the plant habit and morphology and include these with their collections. Further study is needed on Nolina throughout its range. Some species of Nolina are extremely infrequent. Some are on federal and/or state rare and endangered species lists, and possibly some of those listed with a state should be listed federally.

J. C. Dice (1988) studied section Arborescens of Nolina in the United States, and presented extensive descriptions and discussion of N. bigelovii, N. parryi, N. cismontana, and N. interrata.^[1]

Habit: Subshrub, Shrub • Growth Form: Single Crown • Shape and Orientation: Decumbent

Flowers: Bloom Period: Mid Spring • Flower Color: White • Flower Conspicuous: Yes

Seeds: Seed Spread Rate: Slow • Seedling Vigor: Low • Fruit/Seed Abundance: Medium • Fruit/Seed Color: Brown • Fruit/Seed Conspicuous: Yes • Cold Stratification Required: No

Foliage: Foliage Color: Gray-Green • Foliage Porosity Summer: Moderate • Foliage Porosity Winter: Moderate • Foliage Texture: Coarse • Fall Conspicuous: No • Leaf Retention: No

Distribution

Range and Population

North America

Native: Arizona, Sonora, Texas.

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial • Coppice Potential: No • Progagated by Bulbs: No • Propagated by Bare Root: No • Propagated by Container: Yes • Propagated by Corms: No • Propagated by Cuttings: No • Propagated by Seed: No • Propagated by Sod: No • Propagated by Sprigs: No • Propagated by Tubers: No • Fruit/Seed Period Begin: Spring • Fruit/Seed Period End: Summer • Fruit/Seed Persistence: No • Fruit/Seed Persistence: No

Growth

Soil: Adapted to Medium Textured: Adapted to Medium Textured Soils • Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils: Yes • Anaerobic Tolerance: None • Salinity Tolerance: Low • CaCO3 Tolerance: High • Minimum pH: 6.5 • Maximum pH: 9.5 • Fertility Requirement: Low

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun. • Shade Tolerance: Intolerant

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High • Minimum Precipitation: 7 • Maximum Precipitation: 14 • Moisture Use: Low

Temperature: Minimum Temperature (F): 14 • Minimum Frost Free Days: 280 • Cold Hardiness: 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a. (map)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Nolina:

There are approximately 55 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus: N. altamiranoana · N. arenicola (Sand Bear-Grass) · N. atopocarpa (Florida Bear-Grass) · N. beldingi · N. beldingi var. deserticola · N. beldingii · N. bigelovii (Bigelow Beargrass) · N. bigelovii parryi · N. bigelovii var. bigelovii · N. bigelovii wolfii · N. brittoniana (Britton's Bear-Grass) · N. caudata · N. cespitifera · N. cismontana (California Beargrass) · N. durangensis · N. elegans · N. erumpens (Beargrass) · N. erumpens var. compacta · N. georgiana (Georgia Bear-Grass) · N. goldmanii · N. gracilis · N. greenei ( ) · N. greenii · N. guatemalensis (Curly Nolina) · N. hartwegiana · N. histrix · N. hookeri · N. humilis · N. interrata (Dehesa Beargrass) · N. javanica · N. juncea · N. lindheimerana · N. lindheimeriana (Beargrass) · N. loderi · N. longifolia (Oaxacan Tree Nolina) · N. matapensis (Sonoran Tree Bear Grass) · N. micrantha (Bear Grass) · N. microcarpa (Basket Grass) · N. nelsoni · N. nelsonii (Blue Nolina) · N. palmeri · N. palmeri var. brandegeei · N. paradoxa · N. parryi (Bear Grass) · N. parryi wolfii · N. parviflora · N. pliabilis · N. pumila · N. recurvata (Elephant's Foot Tree) · N. recurvata var. albomarginata 'Yellow Star' (Pony Tail Palm) · N. rigida · N. stricta · N. texana (Bunch Grass) · N. tuberculata · N. watsonii

Bibliography

• Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas. (F Tex)
• Dice, J. C. 1988. Systematic Studies in the Nolina bigelovii-N. parryi (Nolinaceae) Complex. M.S. thesis. San Diego State University.
• Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. (Dict Gard)
• Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. (L US Can ed2)
• Trelease, W. 1911. The desert group Nolineae. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 50: 404-443.

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Notes

Contributors:

• Bisby FA, Roskov YR, Orrell TM, Nicolson D, Paglinawan LE, Bailly N, Kirk PM, Bourgoin T, van Hertum J, eds (2008). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist Taxonomic Classification. CD-ROM; Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 01, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 4 providers.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 29, 2008)
• World Checklist of Selected Plant Families

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 01, 2008:

• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium
• School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, The Deaver Herbarium, Northern Arizona University
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 42995
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 282176
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PMAGA080A0
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: NOMI
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 51854

Footnotes:

1. William J. Hess "Nolina". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 413, 414, 415, 416, 419. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.