Desert spoon

Dasylirion wheeleri

Drought tolerant succulent evergreen shrub with basally clumped leaves up to 3 ft. tall and producing yearly flower stalks up to 17 ft. tall with tiny greenish-white flowers in clusters, blooming March to September. Adapted to well-drained shallow, rocky, or gravelly soils on hillsides and slopes in chaparral, desert, semidesert grasslands and southwestern oak woodlands; 3,000 to 6,000 ft. elevation. Also commonly occurs with Turpentine bush (Ericameria laricifolia) and True mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus). Somewhat sensitive to wildfire though able to resprout. Sugary trunks and leaf bases are browsed by bighorn sheep.