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Nolina atopocarpa

(Florida Bear-Grass)

Overview

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Vulnerable

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Florida Bear-Grass, Florida Beargrass

Description

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Genus Nolina

Plants perennial , cespitose or arborescent , acaulescent to short-caulescent, scapose , from branched, woody caudices or bulblike structures; usually forming colonies with few to many rosettes. Stems to 25 dm. Leaves forming rosettes; blade linear , not rigid or fibrous , bases broadly expanding, margins serrulate or entire. Scape 0.5-25 dm. Inflorescences paniculate , rarely racemose, 3-18 dm; bracts caducous or occasionally persistent . Flowers 2-5 per node, functionally unisexual , pistillate flowers with staminodes, staminate flowers with reduced pistils; tepals white to cream or tan, 1.3-5 mm, apex glandular ; ovary superior; pedicel jointed near middle . Fruits capsular , 3-locular, 3-lobed, thin-walled or sometimes firm-walled, often inflated , mostly notched at base and apex or rounded distally; dehiscent , often splitting irregularly. Seeds closely or loosely invested in capsules, globose , turgid . x = 19.

Species ca. 30: North America (se and sw United States), n and nc Mexico.

In areas of west Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, the species of Nolina are not always well defined. There is variation in the presence or absence of marginal teeth on the leaves and placement of the inflorescences within or beyond the leaves. Collectors should take good notes about the plant habit and morphology and include these with their collections . Further study is needed on Nolina throughout its range . Some species of Nolina are extremely infrequent. Some are on federal and/or state rare and endangered species lists , and possibly some of those listed with a state should be listed federally.

J. C. Dice (1988) studied section Arborescens of Nolina in the United States, and presented extensive descriptions and discussion of N. bigelovii, N. parryi, N. cismontana, and N. interrata.[1]

Physical Description

Species Nolina atopocarpa

Plants acaulescent , cespitose; rosettes from bulblike bases , with vertical , subterranean caudices. Leaf blades wiry, lax or stiff, grasslike, flattened, 45-85 cm × 1.5-4.5 mm, not glaucous; margins serrulate , with close-set, cartilaginous teeth, rarely entire; inflorescence leaf blades 1.5-6.5 cm. Scape 2.5-6 dm. Inflorescences racemose, sometimes branched, 6.5-9 dm × 0.7-2.8(-20) cm; bracts caducous , 1.5-3.5 mm, apex acute, fragile. Flowers: tepals 1.3-2.5 mm; fertile stamens: anthers up to 1 mm; pistil not ridged ; pedicel recurved in age, not dilated , proximal to joint 1-1.5 mm, distal to joint 1.2-2 mm. Capsules asymmetrical, rounded , inflated , 4-4.5 × (3.5-) 4-5.5 mm, tapering at base. Seeds closely invested in capsule, rounded, 3-4.1 × 2.4-3.2 mm. [source]

Habit: Subshrub , Shrub

Flowers: Bloom Period: May, June, July.

Habitat

Sandy loam , often with peat in pine flatwoods; 0--50 m [2].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,713 meters (0 to 5,620 feet).[3]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 09-Jul-2004

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Nolina

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 20 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

N. arenicola (Sand Bear-Grass) · N. atopocarpa (Florida Bear-Grass) · N. bigelovii (Bigelow Beargrass) · N. bigelovii var. bigelovii (Bigelow's Nolina) · N. brittoniana (Britton's Bear-Grass) · N. cismontana (California Beargrass) · N. erumpens (Beargrass) · N. georgiana (Georgia Bear-Grass) · N. guatemalensis (Curly Nolina) · N. interrata (Dehesa Beargrass) · N. lindheimeriana (Beargrass) · N. longifolia (Oaxacan Tree Nolina) · N. matapensis (Sonoran Tree Bear Grass) · N. micrantha (Bear Grass) · N. microcarpa (Basket Grass) · N. nelsonii (Blue Nolina) · N. parryi (Bear Grass) · N. recurvata (Elephant's Foot Tree) · N. recurvata var. albomarginata 'Yellow Star' (Pony Tail Palm) · N. texana (Bunch Grass)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 20, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. William J. Hess "Nolina". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 413, 414, 415, 416, 419. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Nolina atopocarpa". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 411, 416, 417. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 149.580 meters (490.748 feet), Standard Deviation = 492.510 based on 12 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012