Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

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. The plant was first described in 1946 when found at the type locality near El Cajon, California, and all the individuals known in California are located within a six-square-mile area there. Although rare, numbering about 9,000 plants total in existence, the species is relatively well protected in its habitat and a proposal for federal protected status was withdrawn. This plant produces a branching stem, part of which grows underground, lined with rosettes of stiff, waxy, blue-green leaves, up to 45 per rosette. The leaves are thick and somewhat fleshy at the bases, and shreddy and serrated along the edges. The erect flower cluster may be up to 1.6 meters tall, bearing branches lined with tiny flowers each with six whitish petals a few millimeters long. The fruit is a papery capsule containing reddish brown seeds about half a centimeter wide.

Plant type

Shrub, Grass

Size

5 ft Tall

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Color

Cream, White, Red, Brown

Flowering season

Summer

Special uses

Groundcover

Sun

Full Sun

Water

Low, Very Low

Site type

Gabbro slopes

Plant communities

Chaparral

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 2 likely

Confirmed Likely

Sosipatra rileyella

Gray Hairstreak

Strymon melinus