Parry's nolina, Parry's beargrass
Nolina parryi
Color: white/cream
Common name: Parry's nolina, Parry's beargrass
Latin name: Nolina parryi
Family: LILIACEAE
Height: Can be more than 4 meters tall
Description: A tall, tree-like plant with large clusters of long thin leaves and a plume-like flower spike/inflorescence that can reach 3 m with hundreds of small white flowers.
Leaf: 65–200 per rosette, 20–40 mm wide just above an expanded base, generally green. Somewhat flexible and not sharply pointed.
Range: High Sierra Nevada (Kern Plateau), e San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, Desert Mountains, Sonoran Desert
Habitat: Dry slopes and ridges, Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Joshua Tree Woodland.
Elevation: 900–2100 m
Flowering time: May–June
Notes: Some plants can have trunks that are 60 cm in diameter. Nolina parryi was first collected by Dr. C.C. Parry near Mount San Jacinto in California. This specimen was photographed in the Kingston Mountains in California where it is fairly common and easy to spot from a long distance.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
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What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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