About Nolina lindheimeriana (Scheele) S.Watson
Nolina lindheimeriana (Scheele) S.Watson can be identified by the following characteristics. The species is stemless and typically produces multiple rosettes made up of wiry, lax, grass-like, flattened leaves. Individual leaves reach up to 1 meter (3⅓ feet) in length and 12 millimeters (~½ inch) in width, and their margins have many small, closely spaced sharp teeth that can cut skin. Its inflorescences are panicles, growing up to 35 centimeters (~14 inches) long on top of scapes that can reach 70 centimeters (~2⅓ feet) in height. Flowers are functionally either male or female: male flowers have larger stamens, while female flowers have more well-developed pistils, but all flowers contain both stamens and pistils. Flowers have six yellow-green tepals up to 2.5 millimeters (~1/10 inch) long. Fruits are winged, slightly inflated capsules that reach up to 10 millimeters in height and 11 millimeters in width (~⅓ inch). Nolina lindheimeriana is endemic only to the Edwards Plateau region of west-central Texas, in the United States. Some online sources report that this species also occurs in Zacatecas state, Mexico, well outside its normally accepted distribution range. However, the sources cited to support this Zacatecas record do not mention the species being present there, and a search of online herbarium collections of Nolina lindheimeriana held by MEXU (the herbarium of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM) returns only collections from Texas. This species grows on limestone hills in open woodlands and scrublands, at elevations between 400 and 600 meters (~1300–2000 feet).
