Nolina microcarpa
Beargrass
Family: Asparagaceae
This is not a grass at all, but a plant that is more closely related to agaves. This is our most common native species of Nolina. The leaf tips fray to form white curly-Q's. In the summer it sends up a tall stalk of green flowers. Grows about 5x5’ though it can spread even wider.
Plant in full sun or part shade exposures. Hardy to -10°F.
Larval food host for the Gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus) and yucca moths (Prodoxidae family). Native solitary bees will use the dry stalks as larval nests.
Taken for rheumatism, for pneumonia and lung hemorrhages; the stalks are eaten; the seeds made a flour or meal for bread or mush; the fruit eaten raw or preserved; plant is used as a dye, for basketry, rugs, mats and other forms of weaving, for brushes, rope, and cord; the roots are used for soap; and the dried leaves are used as cooking tools.
Nolina is named for Abbe Pierre Charles Nolin (1717- 1795) a French arboriculturalist, while microcarpa means having small fruits or seed pods. There are 30 species of Nolina with a native distribution that includes most of Mexico and the southern regions of the United States.
Found on rocky slopes and hills from 3,000-6,000’ in southern Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, south into Mexico.
A plant blooming on a hillside, photo by Max Licher, SEINET
Floral detail, photo by Max Licher
Young green fruits, photo by Leslie Landrum, SEINET
Leaf blades end in fine curly Qs, photo by Mountain States Wholesale Nursery