Dasylirion longissimum Seeds | Mexican Grass Tree
LATIN NAME: Dasylirion longissimum
COMMON NAME: Mexican Grass Tree
Plant Profile
Mexican Grass Tree (Dasylirion longissimum) is a grass in the asparagus family, native to northeastern Mexico, particularly states of san luis potosí, querétaro, and hidalgo. The Mexican grass tree is desert bottlebrush of dry hills, and tall, wand-like spike of cream flowers rises above fine, blue-grey leaves. Plant is a fine, dramatic presence of desert collection and gravel garden. It is a plant of open, sunny, sharp-draining ground. When it flowers, local bees and other insects make good use of it. Few species give back so generously for so little effort.
Science & Biotechnology
Like other members of the asparagus family, Dasylirion longissimum draws steady attention from botanists and plant breeders, who value the genus both as a subject of research and as a source of garden-worthy material. For practical purposes the message is encouraging: generations of cultivation have produced plants of predictable, well-mannered garden character.
Uses & Benefits
Mexican Grass Tree works well in borders, containers and dedicated beds. The Mexican grass tree is a fine, dramatic plant of desert garden and gravel bed. It has been written up in horticultural and botanical papers for tall spikes and desert ways, and it is a fine, long-lived plant of open, sunny, sharp-draining garden. Top-dress plants with fine grit in winter, for crown of grass tree dislikes wet cold. After the first season it asks for very little beyond a place that suits it.
Sotol plants were roasted as survival food and fermented into the desert spirit sotol; today they are sculptural drought-proof ornamentals.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed of Mexican Grass Tree under ordinary good conditions. Fill a pot with a light seed compost, sow evenly on the surface, cover thinly and stand it somewhere warm, bright and evenly moist. Shift the seedlings into small pots as soon as they can be handled, and give them bright light until planting-out time.
Our Take
Given the right start, Mexican Grass Tree is a long-term garden companion. Attention to moisture in the first weeks pays off; later, the plant is forgiving.
Related Reading
If Mexican Grass Tree appeals to you, these related plants are worth a look: