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Nolina nelsonii (Blue Nolina) - A large slow growing evergreen succulent tree-like shrub to 6-10 feet tall or more but usually seen from 4 to 8 feet tall. It has one or more stems bearing dense rosettes of many narrow moderately-rigid but not sharp 1 inch wide by 3-foot-long leaves that are a very attractive silvery blue-green color and have finely toothed margins. Mature plants produce a 4-foot-tall stalk in spring bearing thousands of small lightly fragrant white flowers after which the flowering rosette dies and is replaced from below. Nolina are dioecious with male and female flowers on separate plants and this and the small flowers distinguish it from the similar looking genus, Yucca.
Plant in full sun to light shade in a well-drained soil. Irrigate infrequently if at all. It can grow in hot reflected heat and is cold hardy to 0° F. This plant makes a stunning accent in the garden or in a container and while its slightly serrated leaf margins make it resistant to deer predation, it is not so wicked to be dangerous to the gardener.
Nolina nelsonii comes from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is considered to be closely related to the California species Nolina parryi, that typically is smaller with pale green leaves. It is sometimes called Nelson's Beargrass or Nelson's Blue Beargrass because Beargrass is a common name often associated with the smaller non-arborescent species of Nolina, but it is also only distantly related Xerophyllum tenax, another plant called Beargrass that is in the Lily family, while Nolina has long been considered to be in its own family the Nolinaceae and more recently in the subfamily Nolinoideae within the huge Asparagaceae family.
The genus was named by Andre Michaux (1746-1802), a French botanist sent to North America by King Louis XVI. His name honors Abbé Pierre Charles (P.C.) Nolin, a French agriculturist and horticultural author. This species was first collected in 1898 by the naturalist Edward W. Nelson (1855-1934) at an elevation in the mountains near Miquihuana between 7,000-9,000 feet in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It was described in 1906 and named to honor Nelson by famed American botanist Joseph Nelson Rose (1862-1928), who with Nathaniel Lord Britton published the four-volume tome "The Cactaceae". Edward Nelson and Joseph Nelson Rose were colleagues, and frequent collaborators at the Smithsonian Institution.
We grew this very ornamental plant from 2012 until we closed the nursery in 2025.
Information displayed on this page about Nolina nelsonii is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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