Origin and Habitat: Nolina parvifloraSN|33540]]SN|33540]] is endemic to Mexico, Federal District and states of Chihuahua, Durango, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Nayarit, México, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and Zacatecas.
Type: Mexico. [State of Mexico] between Huahtitlan and Tlanepantla.
Altitude range: 1800-2700 metres above sea level.
Habitat and ecology.* Oak and Pine-oak forests, and deciduous tropical forest,
On slopes of mountains and canyons, on rocky and sandy soils.
Synonyms:
See all synonyms of Nolina parviflora
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Accepted name in llifle Database:Nolina parviflora (Kunth) Hemsl.Biol. Cent. Amer. Bot. 3: 372 (1884).Synonymy: 13
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Common Names include:
SCOTS (Scoats leid/Lallans): sotol
Description: Nolina longifoliaSN|33540]]SN|33535]] is a woody, slow-growing pachycaul plant which becomes arborescent with time and develops a curious, massive base to its 4 to 5 m tall stems.
Stems: Erect, 10-20 cm in diameter, with 1-6 branches.
Leaves 150 to 200 per rosette, persistent. Sheets (lamina), 1 (-1.5) m long, (8-) 10-15 (-20) mm wide, lanceolate, base 5-6 cm long and 4-5 cm wide, ovate, apex acute, long attenuated, arched with age, margin finely thoothed, green-yellowish, smooth.
Inflorescences: Paniculate, erect, 1.5-2 (-3) m long, peduncle 1.5-2.5 cm thick at base, primary branches, 20-30 cm long, numerous, with few buds (up to 5 buds per shoot, but usually developing 2 and fructifying only one) Fertile portion, 1-1.5 m long, bracts in the middle part of the
inflorescence greater than 30 cm long (up to 50 cm), apical ones up to 15 cm long, leaf-like, narrow. Pedicels, 7-12 mm long, articulated in the first third mear the base, sometimes very close to it.
Flowers: Unisexual. Tepals free, 2.5-3 (-4) mm long, 1.5-2 (-2.5) mm wide, elliptical to ovate. Inner ones slightly smaller, whitish, sometimes with green or brown spots and hyaline margin. Fertile stamens 6, free, shorter than tepals, up to 3 mm long, filaments ca. 2 mm long, anthers ca. 1.5 mm long.Ovary 3-lobed, lobes rounded at apex, ca. 2 mm long. Sstigma 3-lobed, lobes ca.1 mm long.
Fruits (capsules): 7-1 (-12) mm long, 9-14 mm wide, pericarp thin, with ovoid to ellipsoidal lobes.
Seeds: 1 (-2) in each capsule, 3-4 mm long, 3-3.5 mm wide, ellipsoidal to ovoid, reticulated or dotted, brown.
Phenology: In habitat it flowers from February to May. Fruit from April to November.
Taxonomy notes: N. longifolia is similar and often synonymized with Nolina parvifloraSN|33535]]SN|33540]], but N. parviflora has bracts a little longer, (up to 50 cm). On the other hand the leaves of N. parviflora are more erect, while those of N. longifolia are arched, wider, very long and once the plants form a trunk will weep to the ground. However most authors believe that these evidences are not sufficiento maintain N. parviflora and N. longifolia as distinct species. More likely they are one and the same species.
Subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Nolina parviflora group
- Nolina longifolia (Karw. ex Schult. & Schult.f.) Hemsl.: Tree-like 1-3 m tall. Leaves dropping, 50-250 cm long by 10-30 mm wide. Bark, thick corky and deeply fissured. Distribution: states of Oaxaca and Puebla.
- Nolina parviflora (Kunth) Hemsl.: tree-like 4-5 m high, 150-200 leaves per rosette. Sheets 1-1.5 m long, persistent, bending with age, Fruits 7-10 x 9-14 mm. Seeds with net or dot ornamentation. Distribution: Federal District and states of Chihuahua, Durango, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Nayarit, México, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and Zacatecas.
Bibliography: Major references and further lectures
1) Miguel Rivera-Lugo, Eloy Solano “Flora del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán: Fascículo 99. Nolinaceae Nakai” Primera edición: 2 de abril de 2012