Beaucarnea gracilis
Species of flowering plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beaucarnea gracilis is a species of flowering plant in the Asparagaceae family. It is native to Puebla, and northern parts of Oaxaca, in Mexico, where it is endemic to the Tehuacán Valley matorral.[4][5] It grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.
| Beaucarnea gracilis | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Subfamily: | Convallarioideae |
| Genus: | Beaucarnea |
| Species: | B. gracilis |
| Binomial name | |
| Beaucarnea gracilis | |
| Synonyms[3] | |
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It is an arborescent species, and plants can form large trees over time.[5][6] It has a stem that is basally enormously swollen and circular in cross-section, with modest branching, growing up to 12m tall.[7]
The specific name gracilis means thin, presumably referring to the leaves which, as in Beaucarnea recurvata, are long and thin (30-60cm long and 4-7mm wide), but in this species they are erect, very glaucous and with margins minutely but sharply roughened.[7]
As with many species of Beaucarnea, Beaucarnea gracilis has been placed in different genera, including Nolina (as Nolina gracilis),[8] and Dasylirion (as Dasylirion gracile);[9] but modern research supports Beaucarnea existing as a genus, with Beaucarnea gracilis accepted as a species of Beaucarnea.[10]