Nolina is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of tropical xerophytic flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s, with the principal distribution being in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and extending into the southern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Some botanists have included the genus Beaucarnea

Beaucarnea

Beaucarnea is a genus of four species of flowering plant native to Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae...

in Nolina. In the APG III classification system

APG III system

The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy...

, it is placed in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Asparagaceae

Asparagaceae

Asparagaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots.In earlier classification systems, the species involved were often treated as belonging to the family Liliaceae...

, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae

Ruscaceae

Nolinoideae is a monocot subfamily of the family Asparagaceae in the APG III system of 2009. It was previously treated as a separate family, Ruscaceae s.l...

). Former alternative placements include Nolinaceae and Agavaceae. The genus is named for 18th century French arboriculturist Abbé C. P. Nolin. Members of the genus are known as beargrasses, some of which are cultivated as ornamental plant

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...

s.

Species

Nolina affinis Nolina altamiranoana Nolina arenicola Correll – Trans-Pecos Beargrass Nolina atopocarpa Bartlett – Florida Beargrass Nolina beldingi Brandegee Nolina bigelovii Nolina bigelovii Nolina bigelovii, Bigelow's nolina or beargrass, is a flowering plant native to the Southwestern United States, California, and Northwest Mexico... (Torr.) S.Watson – Bigelow's Nolina Nolina brittoniana Nolina brittoniana Nolina brittoniana is a rare species of flowering plant in the asparagus family known by the common name Britton's beargrass. It is endemic to Florida, where there are 72 known populations, only a few of which are large enough to be considered viable. It is federally listed as an endangered species... Nash – Britton's Beargrass Nolina caudata Nolina cespitifera Nolina cismontana Nolina cismontana Nolina cismontana, the chaparral beargrass, California beargrass, or peninsular nolina, is a rare species of flowering plant of the Peninsular and Transverse Ranges in California. It is endemic to only four counties in Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Ventura Counties... Dice – Peninsular Beargrass Nolina durangensis Trel. Nolina elegans Nolina erumpens (Torr.) S.Watson – Foothill Beargrass Nolina georgiana Michx. – Georgia Beargrass Nolina greenei S.Watson ex Trel. – Woodland Beargrass Nolina hartwegiana Nolina histrix Nolina hookeri Nolina humilis Nolina interrata Nolina interrata Nolina interrata is a rare species of flowering plant known by the common names Dehesa nolina and Dehesa beargrass. It is known from about ten occurrences in central San Diego County, California, and fewer than 100 individual plants on land across the border in Baja California... Gentry – Dehesa Beargrass Nolina javanica

Nolina juncea Nolina lindheimeriana (Scheele) S.Watson – Devil's Shoestring, Lindheimer Nolina Nolina loderi Nolina longifolia Nolina matapensis Nolina micrantha I.M.Johnst. – Chaparral Beargrass Nolina microcarpa S.Watson – Palmilla Sacahuista Nolina nelsonii Nolina nelsonii Nolina nelsonii , often misspelled Nolina nelsoni, is a flowering plant in the genus Nolina. The species was first described in 1906; in its genus, it is morphologically most similar to Nolina parryi. This extremely drought-tolerant plant is native to the deserts and montane regions in... Rose Joseph Nelson Rose Joseph Nelson Rose was an American botanist. He was born in Union County, Indiana. His father died serving during the Civil War when Joseph Rose was a young boy. He later graduated from high school in Liberty, Indiana.... Nolina palmeri Nolina parryi Nolina parryi Nolina parryi is a flowering plant that is native to southern California and Arizona. It can be found in deserts and mountains at elevations up to 2100 meters. It can exceed two meters in height, its inflorescence reaching 4 meters. The trunk is up to 60 centimeters in diameter... S.Watson – Parry's Beargrass Nolina parviflora Nolina pliabilis Nolina pumila Nolina rigida Nolina sibirica Nolina stricta Nolina texana S.Watson – Texas Sacahuista Nolina tuberculata Nolina watsonii Nolina wolfii

Formerly placed here

• Beaucarnea gracilis Lem. (as N. gracilis (Lem.) Cif. & Giacom.)
• Beaucarnea guatemalensis Rose (as N. guatemalensis (Rose) Cif. & Giacom.)
• Beaucarnea recurvata
  Beaucarnea recurvata
  Beaucarnea recurvata, the Ponytail palm is a species of Beaucarnea. The ponytail palm is native to the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and San Luis Potosí in eastern Mexico...
  
  Lem. (as N. recurvata (Lem.) Hemsl.)

External links

Nolina in Flora of North America photos on www.AIAPS.org