Index / Search / Nolina microcarpa

§1 Plant

Nolina microcarpa S. Watson

vernacular sacahuista — species · Liliaceae


USDA
NOMI
GBIF
2777014
Rank
species
sacahuista (Nolina microcarpa)
Platephotograph · Steve JonesCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Subshrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Liliaceae Juss.
Genus
Nolina
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 21 counties across 3 states/territories
Legend Native · 21 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
High
Moisture use
Low
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
14 °F minimum
Frost-free days
280 min.
Precipitation
7–14 in/yr
pH range
6.5–9.5
Root depth
20 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
4 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Gray-Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
Slight
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Propagation
container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Field Collections Only
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 21 counties across 3 states/territories.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/NOMI ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2777014 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T14:42:51Z