Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum
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| Green sotol in Chihuahuan desert scrub of Texas. Creative Commons photo by Wynn Anderson. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Tesky, Julie L. 1993. Dasylirion leiophyllum. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/daslei/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
DASLEI
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
DALE
COMMON NAMES :
green sotol
smooth-leaf sotol
smooth sotol
TAXONOMY :
The scientific name of green sotol is Dasylirion leiophyllum
Engelm. [2,15]. There are no recognized infrataxa.
LIFE FORM :
Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Green sotol occurs from southern Texas in the Rio Grande region
north into New Mexico and south to central Chihuahua, Mexico. In Texas,
it also occurs at Presidio, Eagle Pass, and Van Horn; in New Mexico
green sotol occurs in the Florida Mountains [2,15].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES40 Desert grasslands
STATES :
NM TX MEXICO
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
7 Lower Basin and Range
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K031 Oak - juniper woodlands
K032 Transition between K031 and K037
K033 Chaparral
K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
K040 Saltbush - greasewood
K041 Creosotebush
K042 Creosotebush - bursage
K043 Paloverde - cactus shrub
K044 Creosotebush - tarbush
K045 Ceniza shrub
K046 Desert: vegetation largely lacking
K053 Grama - galleta steppe
K054 Grama - tobosa prairie
K057 Galleta - three-awn shrubsteppe
K058 Grama - tobosa shrubsteppe
K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
SAF COVER TYPES :
72 Southern scrub oak
239 Pinyon - juniper
241 Western live oak
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Green sotol is dominant in the Chihuahuan Desert region on
gravelly to bouldered low south-facing slopes of the Guadalupe
Escarpment, New Mexico and Texas [7]. It is listed as a dominant
species of sotol-agave (Dasylirion-Agave) and walnut/sotol
(Juglans/sotol) vegetation types in: Vegetation of the Guadalupe
Escarpment, New Mexico-Texas [7].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
The leaves of green sotol are used to make mats, baskets, and
paper [15].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Green sotol is a large leaf-succulent shrub [2,15]. The leaves
are 0.7 to 0.9 inches (2-2.5 cm) broad, 23 to 31 inches (60-80 cm) long,
and basally clumped from a short trunk [2,15]. The inflorescence is a
stout, narrow, spicate panicle [about 1 foot (0.3 m) long] borne on a
rather tall scape. The fruit is an indehiscent, winged capsule [15].
No specific information was found in the literature regarding longevity
or roots. However, a similar species, Texas sotol (Dasylirion texanum)
has a large number of roots, each about 0.2 inch (0.5 mm) in diameter,
forming a cluster at the base of the stem. The roots of Texas sotol run
downward at an acute angle and also extend horizontally into the soil.
The roots are coarse and are found between 5.9 to 14.1 inches (15-36 cm)
below the soil surface.
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Chamaephyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Sexual reproduction - Green sotol plants are dioecious. They
produce thousands of tiny flowers in a long narrow cluster [11]. The
seed is contained in a one-celled three-winged capsule [15].
Vegetative reproduction - Green sotol reproduces vegetatively
by sprouting from the terminal bud, which is located at the base of the
leaf [1,9].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Green sotol is found on hillsides, in deciduous woodlands, and in
grasslands of desert regions [2,7]. It is often found growing in soils
with limestone substrate [7,11]. Green sotol is commonly found on
south-facing boulder slopes and streambeds at elevations between 4,200
and 5,500 feet (1,280-1,676 m). This shrub is generally not abundant
where permanent surface water is present [7].
Green sotol is often associated with lechuguilla (Agave
lecheguilla), walnut (Juglans spp.), prickly pear (Opuntia spp.), yucca
(Yucca spp.), nolina (Nolina spp.), Pinchot juniper (Juniperus
pinchotii), wavyleaf oak (Quercus undulata), skeleton goldeye (Viguiera
stenoloba), curlyleaf muhly (Muhlenbergia setifolia), grama (Bouteloua
spp.), threeawn (Aristida spp.) and slim tridens (Tridens muticus)
[7,9,17].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
No specific information on seasonal development of green sotol was
found. However, a similar species, Wheeler sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri),
flowers in spring or early summer [2]. In the Chihuahuan Desert, New
Mexico, Wheeler sotol flower buds are initiated in mid- to late May,
flowering occurs in June and July, and fruits are mature by August [16].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Green sotol occurs in southwestern desert and semidesert plant
communities of North America that are subject to naturally occurring
fire [9]. Small, presumably young, plants have green leaves extending
to the ground and are usually only slightly scorched by fire [9]. The
sheath of dead leaves surrounding the trunk of mature green sotols
makes them especially susceptible to fire, and plants with fire-girdled
trunks usually die [1].
Mature green sotols are tall enough and have sufficient fuel at
the base that fires will ignite after plants are struck by lightning
[9]. These large plants contribute to fire travel, but their spacing is
such that other fuel is often required to carry fire from one
green sotol to another. Plant material covered only about 60
percent of the ground in grama grass-rosette scrub communities in the
Chisos Mountains, Texas [19]. Green may burn for hours. If the
stem burns through, the top of the plant may spread fire by falling and
rolling downhill. Suppression crews frequently chop mature green
sotols off at their trunks and split them open to check fire spread [9].
Green sotol regrows from the terminal bud after fire [1].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Small shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in
which this species may occur by entering the species name in the
FEIS home page under "Find Fire Regimes".
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
The ability of green sotol to survive fire is dependent upon
individual plant morphology and the frequency and severity of fire. On
3- to 7-year-old burned sites near the northern limits of the Chihuahuan
Desert, green sotol showed losses in excess of 50 percent [1].
Coverage and frequency of green sotol were 75 percent lower on
burned sites than on unburned sites [1]. Two years after an August fire
in a desert mountain shrub community, density of green sotol was
reduced 30 percent. Coverage on the control (unburned site) was 9.06
percent, while it was only 2.44 percent on the burned site [18].
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Green sotol occasionally sprouts from the terminal bud if lightly
or moderately burned [1,9]. Surviving sotol regain most of their
postfire cover within 3 years, but 15 to 20 years are required for
plants to accumulate shaggy bases of dead leaves [1,9].
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Periodic fires can be used to maintain or even increase grass cover at
the expense of shrubs such as green sotol in desert communities
[1,9].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum
REFERENCES :
1. Ahlstrand, Gary M. 1982. Response of Chihuahuan Desert mountain shrub
vegetation to burning. Journal of Range Management. 35(1): 62-65. [296]
2. Benson, Lyman; Darrow, Robert A. 1981. The trees and shrubs of the
Southwestern deserts. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press.
[18066]
3. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
4. Cannon, William Austin. 1911. The root habits of desert plants.
Washington, DC: The Carnegie Institution of Washington. 96 p. [5003]
5. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
6. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
7. Gehlbach, Frederick R. 1967. Vegetation of the Guadalupe Escarpment, New
Mexico-Texas. Ecology. 48(3): 404-419. [5149]
8. Kearney, Thomas H.; Peebles, Robert H.; Howell, John Thomas; McClintock,
Elizabeth. 1960. Arizona flora. 2d ed. Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press. 1085 p. [6563]
9. Kittams, Walter H. 1973. Effect of fire on vegetation of the Chihuahuan
Desert region. In: Proceedings, annual Tall Timbers fire ecology
conference; 1972 June 8-9; Lubbock, Texas. No. 12. Tallahassee, FL: Tall
Timbers Research Station: 427-444. [6271]
10. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
11. MacMahon, James A. 1985. The Audubon Society nature guides: Deserts. New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 638 p. [4956]
12. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
13. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
14. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
15. Vines, Robert A. 1960. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of the Southwest.
Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. 1104 p. [7707]
16. Kemp, Paul R. 1983. Phenological patterns of Chihuahuan desert plants in
relation to the timing of water availability. Journal of Ecology. 71:
427-436. [5054]
17. Brown, David E. 1982. Chihuahuan desertscrub. In: Brown, David E., ed.
Biotic communities of the American Southwest--United States and Mexico.
Desert Plants. 4(1-4): 169-179. [3607]
18. Spears, Brian M.; Barr, William F. 1985. Effect of jointworms on the
growth and reproduction of four native range grasses of Idaho. Journal
of Range Management. 38(1): 44-46. [2205]
19. Dick-Peddie, William A.; Alberico, Michael S. 1977. Fire ecology study
of the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park, Texas: Phase I. CDRI
Contribution No. 35. Alpine, TX: The Chihuahuan Desert Research
Institute. 47 p. [5002]
FEIS Home Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/daslei/all.html
