General: Bigelow's Nolina (Nolina bigelovii) is a yucca-like plant with long, slender, sword-like but flexible leaves that have smooth, shreddy edges when mature. The plant grows from a stalk that is often short, but up to about 8 feet high. In the spring, large, plume-like flowerheads are produced on a long stalk that persists long after the flowers are gone.

Bigelow's Nolina is a minor component of the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone. Around Las Vegas, look for this species near Grapevine Canyon in Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Family: Agave (Agavaceae).

Other Names: Nolina, beargrass.

Plant Form: Rounded mound of 3-ft-long sword-like leaves emerging from ground level or from a short stalk.

Height: Usually less than 5 feet, but flowering stalk to 8 feet.

Trunk: Short and thick.

Stems: None.

Leaves: Very long (3 feet) and slender, flat. Leaf edges smooth (minutely serrate when young), loose fibers along leaf edges when mature.

Flowers: Blooms during spring. Inflorescence: a plume at the end of an upright, 3 to 5-foot-high stalk. Flowers cream or pale yellow, tiny. Fruit develops into early summer.

Seeds: Gray, small.

Habitat: Generally found in rocky areas and on rocky hillsides.

Elevation: To about 5,000 feet.

Distribution: Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona.

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