Nolina is a genus of tropical xerophytic flowering plants, with the principal distribution being in Mexico and extending into the southern United States. They are large, dioecious plants. Some botanists have included the genus Beaucarnea in Nolina. In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae). Former alternative placements include Nolinaceae and Agavaceae. The genus is named for 18th century French arboriculturist Abbé C. P. Nolin. Members of the genus are known as beargrasses, some of which are cultivated as ornamental plants.

Nolina bigelovii, Bigelow’s nolina, is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It grows in the driest desert areas and at elevations of up to 1500 meters. The trunk like stem may exceed 2 meters in height, part of which may be underground. The stiff, shreddy leaves are arranged in rosettes about the stem, with up to 150 per rosette. The bases are thick and fleshy and much wider than the rest of the blade. The treelike inflorescence may approach 4 meters in height. The tiny flowers each have six whitish tepals a few millimetres in length. In Arizona, Nevada, and southern California, N. bigelovii is especially prevalent along the Lower Colorado River Valley, especially in western Arizona, but also regions of the mountains of southern California’s Colorado Desert. The species ranges in the cordillera mountains of Baja California-(the north state), as well as Isla Ángel de la Guarda in the northern Sea of Cortez; its northeast range extent is in the Grand Canyon of Arizona.