Bigelow's nolina facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bigelow's nolina |
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Nolina bigelovii is a cool plant often called Bigelow's nolina or beargrass. It's a type of flowering plant that grows naturally in the dry areas of the Southwestern United States, California, and northwest Mexico. You can find it in very dry desert places, even high up in the mountains, sometimes as high as 1,500 metres (4,900 ft)!
Where Does Bigelow's Nolina Grow?
This interesting plant is found in several places. In Arizona, Nevada, and southern California, it loves to grow along the Lower Colorado River Valley. It's especially common in the western Arizona Sonoran Desert. You can also spot it in the mountains of southern California's Colorado Desert.
The plant's range extends into the Peninsular Ranges of Baja California in Mexico. It even grows on Isla Ángel de la Guarda, an island in the northern Gulf of California. The farthest northeast it grows is in the famous Grand Canyon of Arizona.
What Does Bigelow's Nolina Look Like?
Even though one of its common names is "beargrass," Nolina bigelovii is actually not a grass at all! It has a thick, trunk-like stem that can grow more than 2 metres (6.6 ft) long. Part of this stem can even be hidden underground.
Its leaves are semi-stiff and look a bit shredded. They grow in a circular shape called a rosette, with up to 150 leaves in one rosette! The bottom part of each leaf is thick and fleshy, much wider than the rest of the leaf.
When the plant blooms, it sends up a tall flower stalk called an inflorescence. This stalk can reach almost 4 metres (13 ft) high! The flowers themselves are small, with six whitish petal-like parts called tepals, each only a few millimeters long.
See also
In Spanish: Nolina bigelovii para niños
