''Nolina erumpens'', the foothill beargrass, mesa sacahuista, or sand beargrass, is a member of the subfamily Nolinaceae of family

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae (), known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, '' Asparagus officinalis''. This family includes both ...

, native to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and adjacent regions of north

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
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Description

The 2-2.6 feet long, 0.8 inch wide longitudinally grooved leaves of ''N. erumpens'' grow in wide tufts, and are sharp and serrated on the margins with loose-hanging filament-like appendages. The inflorescences are club shaped and rarely grow longer than the leaves, and bear numerous tiny, cream-colored flowers.Flora of North America, Vol. 26 Page 416, 418, Mesa sacahuista, ''Nolina erumpens'' (Torrey) S. Watson, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts. 14: 248. 1879.
/ref> The plant flowers in the late spring and early summer and the flowers attract ants, wasps and bees. Fruit is capsule-shaped and thin-walled.

Cultivation

''Nolina erumpens'' is extremely rare in amateur private collections but may be found in some botanical gardens among collections of succulent plants.Complete Encyclopedia of Succulents by Zdenek Jezek and Libor Kunte

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1668594 erumpens Flora of Chihuahua (state) Flora of Texas Flora of New Mexico Plants described in 1858 Taxa named by John Torrey Taxa named by Sereno Watson