Parry's Nolina
Nolina parryi
Family: Asparagaceae
This is a somewhat variable species—trunk forming, though some populations have a smaller 3-6’ trunk. One population which is currently considered a subspecies (N. parri subspecies wolfii) gets a more stout and tall trunk—to 15’ tall and has wider leaves. The tiny flowers are borne on 6’ stalks on the regular species, while the subspecies wolfii may hold 12’ flower spikes!
Full to part sun. Tolerates low water conditions when established (supplement water in summer about once or twice a month). Hardiness is not well known but probably at least hardy to 10°F based on the elevations it is found at, the subspecies wolfii probably tolerating even lower temperatures. 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 parryi is named for Dr. Charles C. Parry, an English-born American botanist and curator of the Harvard Herbarium. The subspecies, wolfii, is probably named for the plant collector John Wolf, 1820 - 1897. Formerly considered a variant of Nolina bigelovii. 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.
Native to Baja California, southern California and Arizona, the species can be found in deserts and mountains at altitudes of up to 6,900’. The subspecies wolfii can be found mixed with typical Nolina parryi from the San Jacinto Moutains through Joshua Tree National Park and north to the Kingston Mountains, a range surrounded by flat and dry lowlands that lies midway between Barstow and Death Valley.