Nolina microcarpa | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Asparagaceae |
Subfamily: | Nolinoideae |
Genus: | Nolina |
Species: | N. microcarpa |
Binomial name | |
Nolina microcarpa | |
Synonyms | |
Nolina caudata |
Nolina microcarpa is a species of flowering plant in the asparagus family known by the common names sacahuista and palmilla. Like other species of Nolina , it may be called beargrass. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States in Arizona and New Mexico. [1] It does occur in the southwestern corner of Utah, where it has a limited distribution on Navajo Sandstone, [2] but reports of it occurring in Texas may be in error. [1] [3]
Sacahuista is variable in appearance. In general it is a large plant that grows in clumps up to two meters wide. It produces a rosette of many narrow leaves each up to 130 centimetres (4.3 feet) long but only 1.2 centimetres (0.47 inches) wide. The grasslike leaf blades are thick, rough, and serrated. There is no aboveground stem; the leaves grow from a woody underground caudex. When the plant flowers it produces a scape up to 1.5 to 1.8 m (4.9 to 5.9 ft) tall. [1] [3] The inflorescence is a panicle of flowers with tiny white tepals. The species is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants; occasionally there are flowers with both male and female parts functional. The fruit is a papery, three-sided capsule about half a centimeter long and wide. [1] [3]
This plant grows in dry habitat types, such as desert grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and chaparral. It is a dominant plant species in a number of ecosystems. It may grow alongside oaks, pines, and manzanitas. The region experiences a bimodal pattern of precipitation, with rainy seasons occurring in November through April and again during the summer. Wildfire is not uncommon. The plant resprouts from its caudex after its aboveground parts burn. Sacahuista herbage is flammable, increasing the local intensity of fires when it ignites. [3]
Sacahuista provides food for animals such as white-tailed deer. [3] However, it is poisonous to sheep and goats, and less so to cattle. Sheep fed parts of the plant have been noted to experience impaction of the rumen and liver toxicity. In an experimental setting the plant also appears to be toxic to rats and chukar partridges, resulting in symptoms such as loss of coordination and diarrhea when the seeds were ingested. [4] Humans can eat the plant. Native American groups have eaten the fruit, used the stalks as a vegetable, and ground the seeds into flour for bread. The plant has also been used for thatching, mats, basketry, brushes, rope, and cooking tools. [5] Today it is used for landscaping in appropriate climates. [6]
Nolina is a genus of tropical xerophytic flowering plants, with the principal distribution being in Mexico and extending into the southern United States. They are large, dioecious plants.
Cylindropuntia fulgida, the jumping cholla, also known as the hanging chain cholla, is a cholla cactus native to Sonora and the Southwestern United States.
Halogeton glomeratus is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common names saltlover, Aral barilla, and halogeton. It is native to Russia, Central Asia and China, but the plant is probably better known in the western United States, where it is an introduced species and a notorious noxious weed. This annual herb is a hardy halophyte, thriving in soils far too saline to support many other plants. It also grows in alkali soils such as those on alkali flats and disturbed, barren habitat. It can be found in sagebrush and shadscale habitat, and it grows well in areas with cold winters.
Astragalus alpinus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name alpine milkvetch. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the upper latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
Echinocereus engelmannii, the strawberry hedgehog cactus or Engelmann's hedgehog cactus, is a cactus commonly found in desert areas of the southwestern United States and the adjacent areas of Mexico, including the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Baja California and Sonora.
Nolina cismontana, the chaparral beargrass, chaparral nolina, California beargrass, Peninsular beargrass, or peninsular nolina, is a rare species of flowering plant of the Peninsular and Transverse Ranges in California. It is endemic to only four counties in Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Ventura Counties. There are perhaps 15 to 17 occurrences in existence, with a total population estimated between 10,000 and 20,000.
Chaetopappa ericoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names rose heath and heath-leaved chaetopappa. It is native to the southwestern and western Great Plains regions of the United States, plus northern Mexico. It is found in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and Nuevo León.
Quercus havardii is a deciduous, low-growing, thicket-forming shrub that occupies some two million to three million hectares in the southern Great Plains of North America. Clones may reach hundreds to thousands of years old, although aboveground stems typically live only 11 to 15 years. Shinnery oak stems are usually 1 to 2 metres tall and codominate the plant community with mid- and tall-grasses, which are usually taller than the oaks.
Quercus turbinella is a North American species of oak known by the common names shruboak, turbinella oak, shrub live oak, and gray oak. It is native to Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada in the western United States. It also occurs in northern Mexico.
Symphoricarpos albus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name common snowberry. Native to North America, it is browsed by some animals and planted for ornamental and ecological purposes, but is poisonous to humans.
Asclepias welshii is a rare species of milkweed known by the common name Welsh's milkweed. It is native to southern Utah and northern Arizona, where there are four known occurrences remaining. Most of the plants occur in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, where the habitat has been degraded in many areas by off-road vehicle use. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Nolina brittoniana is a rare species of flowering plant in the asparagus family known by the common name Britton's beargrass. It is endemic to Florida, where there are 72 known populations, only a few of which are large enough to be considered viable. It is federally listed as an endangered species of the United States.
Hedysarum alpinum is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name alpine sweetvetch. It is called masu in the Iñupiaq language. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. In North America it is widespread in Canada and the northernmost United States, including Alaska.
Lupinus sericeus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name silky lupine or Pursh's silky lupine. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Arizona and east to Alberta and Colorado.
Artemisia filifolia, known by common names including sand sagebrush, sand sage and sandhill sage, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family. It is native to North America, where it occurs from Nevada east to South Dakota and from there south to Arizona, Chihuahua, and Texas.
Flourensia cernua is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the English common names American tarwort and tarbush and the Spanish common names hojasé, hojasén, and hoja ancha. It is native to the Chihuahuan Desert of North America, where it occurs in the US states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas. Most of the species in the genus are found in Latin America; this and F. pringlei are the only two species whose ranges extend into the United States.
Purshia glandulosa is a species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names antelope bitterbrush, desert bitterbrush, Mojave antelope brush, and cliff-rose.
Nolina erumpens, the foothill beargrass, mesa sacahuista, or sand beargrass, is a member of the subfamily Nolinaceae of family Asparagaceae, native to New Mexico, Texas and adjacent regions of north Mexico.
Dudleya arizonica is a species of perennial succulent plant commonly known as the Arizona chalk dudleya and the Arizona liveforever. A member of the genus Dudleya, this species is characterized by long, red flowers that adorn a waxy rosette of succulent leaves. It resembles a reduced desert form of the more coastal chalk dudleya, Dudleya pulverulenta, but differs in its smaller stature, lower number of leaves, and orientation of the flowers. Native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, it is widespread in range, but is primarily found in scattered, widely separated localities. It can be found as far west as coastal Ensenada to the desolate desert ranges of Nevada. It is one of two species of Dudleya that occur in Arizona, the other being Dudleya saxosa subsp. collomiae, and is the only species on mainland Mexico and in Utah.
Nolina texana, the Texas sacahuiste or Texas beargrass, is a plant in the asparagus family that resembles a large clump of grass. It grows in the south central United States and Northern Mexico. They are sometimes grown as a garden plant in xeriscape or native plant gardens.