Nolina parryi

Parry's beargrass

Family: Ruscaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Parry's beargrass is a California native perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada Foothills, southern Sierra Nevada, eastern San Bernardino Mountains, eastern Peninsula Ranges, and desert regions in pinyon and juniper woodland on rocky desert slopes at elevations of 900 to 2,100 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces white flowers in a massive inflorescence up to 3.8 meters tall with a thick stem 26 to 90 millimeters in diameter at the base. Growing with an extensive rosette of 65 to 200 leaves, it forms a dramatic clump with erect, unbranched or slightly branched stems rising 3 to 2.1 meters tall. Its leaves are generally green, 20 to 40 millimeters wide, with a base 5 to 16.5 centimeters wide and finely minute-serrate margins. The plant produces small red-brown seeds 3 to 4 millimeters long, characteristic of this distinctive desert grassland species.

Habitat: Pinyon/juniper woodland, rocky desert slopes

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 900-2100 m

Bioregions: s SNF, s SNH (Kern Plateau), e SnBr, e PR, D.

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Kern, Orange, Tulare, Ventura, Inyo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.