![](http://image.absoluteastronomy.com/images//topicimages/d/da/dasylirion.gif)
Dasylirion
Encyclopedia
Dasylirion is a genus of 17 species of flowering plant
s, all native to Mexico
, with three species also extending into the southwestern United States
. In the APG III classification system
, it is placed in the family
Asparagaceae
, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae).
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, all native to 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...
, with three species also extending into the southwestern United States
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
. 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).
Selected species
- Dasylirion acrotrichumDasylirion acrotrichumDasylirion acrotrichum, the Great Desert Spoon and green Sotol , is a plant native to the Chihuahuan Desert and other xeric habitats in northern and central Mexico...
(Schiede) Zucc. - Dasylirion durangense Trel.
- Dasylirion leiophyllum Engelm. ex Trel. (syn. D. heteracanthum I.M.Johnst.)
- Dasylirion longissimumDasylirion longissimumDasylirion longissimum, the Mexican Grass Tree, is a species of flowering plant native to the Chihuahuan Desert and other xeric habitats in Northeastern Mexico.-Description:...
Lem. - Dasylirion lucidum Rose
- Dasylirion texanumDasylirion texanumDasylirion texanum, the Texan Sotol and Sotol, is a monocot flowering plant native to central and southwestern Texas and in Coahuila state of northeastern Mexico, including the Chihuahuan Desert.-Description:...
Scheele - Dasylirion wheeleriDasylirion wheeleriDasylirion wheeleri is a flowering plant native to arid environments of northern Mexico, in Chihuahua and Sonora and in the southwestern United States, in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, and also in New Mexico and Texas.-Description:Dasylirion wheeleri is a moderate to slow-growing evergreen shrub...
S.Watson
Formerly placed here
- Nolina bigeloviiNolina bigeloviiNolina bigelovii, Bigelow's nolina or beargrass, is a flowering plant native to the Southwestern United States, California, and Northwest Mexico...
(Torr.) S.Watson (as D. bigelovii Torr.)