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Habitat:
tropical
and subtropical regions of the Americas, particularly Mexico, the West
Indies, Central America, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia; the
Mediterranean.
Description: a family of monocotyledonous plants, mono or polycarpic,
mostly xeromorphic. The leaves generally bear a single terminal spine though
in some plants spines may also appear along the edge. The roots are long and
numerous; the stem is short and bears a rosette of fleshy, fibrous leaves.
The remarkably tall flower spike is produced at maturity. Pollination is
carried out by insects or birds. According to recent studies, this family
can be divided into two different tribes: Yucceae (Barlett) having
fibrous leaf margins, actinomorphic flowers with sagittate anthers, superior
ovary and straight embryo; Agaveae having actinomorphic flowers with
inferior ovary, long anthers and curved embryo and often dentate leaf
margins.
Soil: basic mix plus 0,5% of calcium.
Location: full sun.
Temperature: the winter minimum should be between 5°C and 10°C (41/50
°F) depending on the provenance of plants. They dislike a large daily
temperature variation.
Water: average; avoid pouring water directly over the leaf rosette.
They’re drought-tolerant and prefer soils with sharp drainage since the
roots are prone to damage from excess moisture. They can be propagated by
removing offsets or raised from seed.
Cultivation tips: these plants are suitable for chalky soils and are
fairly easy to grow; apply a high potassium fertilizer. Many genera are
quite hardy but they should be kept dry during cold spells to avoid the risk
of root rot. Some species may reach considerable proportions so they are
best grown in deep containers.
Main genera: Yucceae tribe: Hesperaloe, Yucca.
Agaveae tribe: Agave, Furcraea.
NOLINACEAE
This small family embraces some fifty species distributed over the
southern United States and Central America; most of them develop a stem,
some may have a caudex. The leaf rosette is borne at the top of the trunk or
arises from the caudex when this is present. The spike-like inflorescence
carries small, monosexual, actinomorphic flowers. The capsular, indehiscent
fruits resemble a nut and may contain from one to three seeds.
Cultivation tips: same treatment as Agavaceae.
Main genera: Beaucarnea, Calibanus, Dasylirion, Nolina.
Beaucarnea (Nolina) recurvata
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