Bigelow's Nolina
Nolina bigelovii
Family: Asparagaceae
One of the arborescent (treelike) beargrasses, Bigelow Nolina can reach up to 10’ tall and has a relatively stout trunk. Compared to other arborescent Nolina species, the foliage is more rigid, stiff, not as drooping as the other species and the color is blueish green—not as blue as Blue Nolina but not green like the other species. Flower spikes emerge in spring and rise 4-6’ above the foliage with cream-colored flowers.
Full to part sun. This is one of the most xeric (dry adapted) of the Nolina species and tolerates low water conditions when established (supplement water in summer about once or twice a month). Hardy to 10°F. Some people “clean up” the brown skirts from the trunk but this skirt provides habitat for insects and other wildlife.
Taken for rheumatism, for pneumonia and lung hemorrhages; the stalks were eaten; the seeds were made a flour or meal for bread or mush; the fruit was eaten raw or preserved; plant was used as a dye, for basketry, rugs, mats and other forms of weaving, for brushes, rope, and cord; the roots were used for soap; and the dried leaves were used as cooking tools.
Nolina is named for Abbe Pierre Charles Nolin (b. 1717) a French arboriculturalist, while the species name bigelovii honors John M. Bigelow (1804-1878), botanist and US Army surgeon. There are 30 species of Nolina with the principal distribution being in Mexico and extending into the southern United States.
Larval host for the Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus), the snout moth Sosipatra rileyella, and yucca moths (Prodoxidae family). Native solitary bees will use the dry stalks as larval nests.
Found on rocky slopes and ridges, from 1,000 to 5,000’ in southeastern California, the southern tip of Nevada, western Arizona, and into Sonora and Baja California, Mexico.