Dasylirion serratifolium - Sotol

Dasylirion serratifolium is part, just like its cousins the Nolines and Yuccas, of these plants from semi-desert climates that are hardy enough to acclimate in our regions that are not too cold, provided they can offer it a perfectly drained soil of a large rockery or a gravel bed, dry in winter. It is a trendy plant, much more graceful than Yuccas, intensely graphic, decorative all year round, which is content with little, but makes an impression in a mineral setting or on a contemporary terrace. This serratifolium species is characterized by its rather wide and light leaves, with toothed margins, glaucous in colour, ending in a sort of tuft of fibres. This plant with the appearance of a large sea urchin planted on a very short trunk blooms after many years, in the form of a tall floral stem filled with small cream flowers. Dasylirion can be grown both in the ground and in pots. It is an excellent plant for dry gardens and poor, rocky or sandy soils.

Native to the mountainous areas of central Mexico, Dasylirion serratifolium is able to withstand temperatures around -12°C (10.4 °F) in well-drained soil in our gardens, if it is somewhat sheltered from rain, and it tolerates long periods of summer drought. It is a rhizomatous plant belonging to the Agave family, slow-growing in dry soil, faster in moist soil. When young, Dasylirion forms a shaggy, very dense ball, composed of leaves that resemble those of Yuccas, but rigid and pale green-blue in colour, bordered by small curved yellow teeth. After many years, the base of the plant rises and forms a sort of trunk 1 to 1.50m (3ft 4in to 4ft 11in) high, covered with remnants of old leaves, brown in colour, forming a sort of skirt. They can be cut to highlight the trunk. The trunk often ends up lying down, without stopping its growth. The spherical foliage crown is 80cm (31.5in) to 1m (3ft 4in) wide. Flowering occurs after 10 to 15 years of cultivation, in summer. A thin upright floral stem emerges from the centre of the rosette at 2m (6ft 7in), among the leaves. The small flowers, cream to pale yellow in colour, are tightly packed along the stem. It persists for a long time on the plant, often until winter. Male plants are distinct from female plants. When watered during the summer, this Dasylirion shows spectacular growth. Carefully choose the location of this plant and do not disturb it anymore: its fragile root system does not like to be disturbed at all and tolerates transplantation very poorly. Unlike Agaves, Dasylirion is not a monocarpic plant: flowering does not lead to the death of the rosette, a lateral bud located on the main axis of the plant will take over.

Dasylirion serratifolium is an extraordinary plant, interesting all year round. Superb in a large pot with simple shapes, it is perfect in a minimalist composition. Give it plenty of sunlight and a soil that does not retain water, as it particularly fears heavy and wet soils in winter. It will therefore find its place on a large arid slope, at the top of a large exotic or contemporary rockery, or even near a swimming pool, if the soil is well prepared to accommodate it. To dress its base, consider, for example, a carpet of céraistes or silver basket, Cerastostigma plumbaginoides, Delosperma, or even a dry land lawn called Zoyzia tenuifolia, the Mascarene grass. It can also be associated with Agaves, prickly pears, fairly hardy candle cacti (Cleistocactus strausii, Cylindropuntia imbricata), and equally spectacular and frugal shrubby Aloes.