Nolina
Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Automatic taxobox
Nolina is a genus of temperate and tropical xerophytic flowering plants belonging to the family Asparagaceae. The native distribution of the genus includes most of Mexico and the southern regions of the United States north to Nevada and Colorado.<ref name="POWO" /><ref name="eFloras">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":7">Hochstätter, F. (2010). The genus Nolina (Nolinaceae). Piante Grasse 2010(1, Suppl.): 1-48.</ref><ref>Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution maps</ref><ref>Trelease, William. 1911. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 50(200)</ref> Especially in the USA, members of the genus are known as beargrass,<ref name="ITIS">Template:ITIS</ref> some of which are cultivated as ornamental plants.
Nolina species grow large rosettes of many leaves, with many species forming large, erect trunks, with some species branching to contain multiple rosettes of leaves, while others are stemless. They are typically large plants, and are dioecious, with male and female flowers being produced on different plants.<ref name="eFloras" /><ref name=":7" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The genus was named by André Michaux after the 18th century French arboriculturist Abbé C. P. Nolin.<ref name="eFloras" /> The type species is Nolina georgiana, the only species included by Michaux in the new genus he described;<ref name="Michaux">Template:Cite book</ref> this is one of the stemless species, without any trunk.<ref name="FNAgeorgiana">Template:Cite web</ref>
Classification
In the APG III classification system of plant taxonomy, Nolina is a member of the family Asparagaceae, and within this family, Nolina is part of a subfamily, the Convallarioideae. In the past, many members of the Convallarioideae, including Nolina, were placed in the now defunct family Ruscaceae).<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Former alternative placements include Nolinaceae and Agavaceae.<ref name="eFloras" />
Previously, some botanists have included the genus Beaucarnea in Nolina, and over time, multiple species of both genera have been moved back and forth between the two genera. More recent molecular phylogenetic research found that Beaucarnea and Nolina are well supported by DNA and morphological evidence as being two distinct genera.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Description
Nolina are perennial plants, with some growing as tufts of leaves arising from near ground level with little or only a short above ground stem, whilst others grow in a tree-like manner forming a woody, leafless caudex or trunk of up to about 2-3m, that with age, may branch to form multiple branches. The shorter species, especially those not forming an above ground stem, usually form colonies, often with many rosettes. The leaves are arranged into rosettes of many long, linear leaves, with the leaves being broader where they meet the stem.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref>
The inflorescence consists of a scape (or a bare stem arising from the leaf rosettes) of between 5-250cm length, with panicles of flowers, of 30 to 180cm in length, held along the scape. Each node holds 2-5 functionally unisexual flowers. The tepals are white, cream or light tan. The fruits are capsular, 3-locular, 3-lobed and often inflated.<ref name=":8" />
Species
Template:As of, World Flora Online (WFO) lists the genus Nolina to contain 30 accepted species,<ref name="WFO">Template:Cite web</ref> with Plants of the World Online (POWO) accepting 35 accepted species.<ref name="POWO">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:As of, the 35 accepted species of Nolina accepted by Kew/POWO are as follows:<ref name="POWO" />
- Nolina arenicola Correll – Trans-Pecos beargrass - western Texas
- Nolina atopocarpa Bartlett – Florida beargrass - Florida`
- Nolina azureogladiata D.Donati - Oaxaca
- Nolina beldingii Brandegee - Baja California Sur
- Nolina bigelovii (Torr.) S.Watson – Bigelow's nolina - Sonora, Arizona, southern Nevada, southern California
- Nolina brandegeei (Trel.) L.Hern. - Mexico (Baja California)<ref name="POWO1">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Nolina brittoniana Nash – Britton's beargrass - Florida
- Nolina caxcana Ruiz-Sanchez, P.Carrillo & L.Hern. - Mexico (Zacatecas, Jalisco)<ref name="POWO2">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Nolina cespitifera Trel. - Coahuila, Zacatecas, Nuevo León
- Nolina cismontana Dice – Peninsular beargrass - southern California
- Nolina durangensis Trel. - Chihuahua, Durango
- Nolina erumpens (Torr.) S.Watson – Foothill beargrass - Chihuahua, western Texas
- Nolina excelsa García-Mend. & E.Solano - Oaxaca
- Nolina georgiana Michx. – Georgia beargrass - Georgia, South Carolina
- Nolina greenei S.Watson ex Trel. – Woodland beargrass - New Mexico, southern Colorado, northwestern Texas, panhandle of Oklahoma
- Nolina hibernica Hochstaetter & D.Donati - Tamaulipas, Nuevo León
- Nolina humilis S.Watson – Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí
- Nolina interrata Gentry – Dehesa beargrass - San Diego County, northern Baja California
- Nolina juncea (Zucc.) J.F.Macbr. - northern Mexico
- Nolina lindheimeriana (Scheele) S.Watson – Devil's shoestring, Lindheimer nolina - central Texas
- Nolina matapensis Wiggins - Sonora, Chihuahua
- Nolina micrantha I.M.Johnst. – Chaparral beargrass - Coahuila, Chihuahua, western Texas, southern New Mexico
- Nolina microcarpa S.Watson – Palmilla Sacahuista - Chihuahua, Sonora, Arizona, New Mexico, southwestern Utah
- Nolina nelsonii Rose - Tamaulipas
- Nolina orbicularis L.Hern. - Mexico (Guanajuato to San Luis Potosi)<ref name="POWO3">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Nolina palmeri S.Watson - Baja California
- Nolina parryi S.Watson – Parry's beargrass - Arizona, southern California, Baja California, Sonora
- Nolina parviflora (Kunth) Hemsl. - central and southern Mexico
- Nolina pollyjeanneae Hochstätter - USA (Oklahoma)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Nolina pumila Rose - northern and central Mexico
- Nolina rigida Trel. - Mexico; apparently extinct
- Nolina robusta L.Hern. - Mexico (Querétaro to San Luis Potosí)<ref name="POWO4">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Nolina rodriguezii Ruiz-Sanchez, P.Carrillo & L.Hern. - Mexico (Jalisco)<ref name="POWO5">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Nolina texana S.Watson – Texas sacahuista - Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Chihuahua, Coahuila
- Nolina watsonii (Baker) Hemsl. - Mexico (Tamaulipas, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:As of, the five species accepted by POWO but not currently accepted by WFO are:<ref name="WFO" /><ref name="POWO" />
- Nolina brandegeei (homotypic synonym: Nolina palmeri var. brandegeei Trel. in Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 50: 420 (1911))<ref name="POWO1" />
- Nolina caxcana Ruiz-Sanchez, P.Carrillo & L.Hern.<ref name="POWO2" />
- Nolina orbicularis L.Hern. - Mexico (Guanajuato to San Luis Potosi)<ref name="POWO3" />
- Nolina robusta L.Hern. - Mexico (Querétaro to San Luis Potosí)<ref name="POWO4" />
- Nolina rodriguezii Ruiz-Sanchez, P.Carrillo & L.Hern. - Mexico (Jalisco)<ref name="POWO5" />
Formerly placed here
- Beaucarnea gracilis Lem. (as N. gracilis (Lem.) Cif. & Giacom.)
- Beaucarnea guatemalensis Rose (as N. guatemalensis (Rose) Cif. & Giacom.)
- Beaucarnea recurvata Lem. (as N. recurvata (Lem.) Hemsl.)<ref name="GRINSpecies">Template:Cite web</ref>