NOLINA

Yucca and agave relatives with tough, narrow, grassy leaves, typically carried atop a thick trunk. Mature plants bear flowers; the blossoms are tiny, but they're usually borne on tall stalks that make for a good show. Good for dry areas; tolerate poor, alkaline soil. Not suited to areas with high rainfall and high humidity.

bear grass

nolina erumpens

• Zones MS, LS, CS, TS; USDA 7-11.
• Native to Mexico and western Texas.
• Sharp-edged, thick leaves to 3 feet long form a mound 34 feet tall, 6 feet wide.
• Showy spikes of creamy white flowers flushed with rose-pink rise several feet above the foliage, spring into summer.

devil's shoestring

nolina lindheimeriana

• Zones MS, LS, CS, TS; USDA 7-11.
• Native to Texas.
• Wiry, narrow, 2- to 3 feet-long leaves; foliage mounds reach 6 feet across.
• Wands of white flowers rise to 34 feet in late spring.

mexican grass tree

nolina longifolia

• Zones CS, TS; USDA 9-11.
• Native to central Mexico.
• In youth, forms a fountain (to about 6 feet wide) of grasslike, 3 feet-long, 1 inches-wide leaves.
• In time, the foliage fountain is carried atop a 6- to 10 feet trunk, sometimes with a few branches.
• White flowers come in late spring, on stalks up to 6 feet tall.

nelson's blue bear grass tree

nolina nelsonii

• Zones MS, LS, CS, TS; USDA 7-11.
• Slow-growing plant native to the deserts of northern Mexico.
• Forms a foliage rosette 35 feet tall and twice as wide; narrow (1- to 112 inches-wide), finely tooth-edged leaves are gray-green and flexible when young, silvery blue-gray and stiff when mature.
• In time, foliage is carried atop a 5- to 12 feet trunk.
• Dead leaves hang onto the trunk; remove them for a neater look.
• Blooms in summer, bearing creamy blossoms on a 7- to 10 feet spike.
• Dramatic and sculptural.

sacahuista, basket grass

nolina texana

• Zones MS, LS, CS; USDA 7-9.
• Native to Texas, the Southwest, and Mexico.
• Very grasslike foliage forms a mound 1122 feet tall and twice as wide.
• Stalks of creamy white blossoms are 1112 feet tall; they don't rise above the leaves.
• Blooms from spring into summer.
• Especially hardy.