Common Name:

General Information

Dasylirion simplex is an evergreen, succulent perennial plant producing a trunk around 100cm long upon which there is a rosette of leaves that can each be around 100cm long. The plant usually flowers annually, producing a flowering stem that can be up to 5 metres long.
The various Dasylirion species were once a major source of food and materials for people in the arid and semi-arid regions of southwestern N. America from Arizona to Texas and south to central Mexico. The stems provide a starch-rich food that can also be fermented into a potent alcoholic beverage, whilst the leaves and stems provide materials for thatch, weaving, basketry and construction[, ].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Southern N. America - northern Mexico (Durango).

Habitat

Rocky and gravelly desert areas[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	1.00 m
Pollinators	Bees, Insects
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a very well-drained soil in a sheltered sunny position[].

A dioecious species,both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

The various Dasylirion species were once a major source of food and materials for people in the arid and semi-arid regions of southwestern N. America from Arizona to Texas and south to central Mexico. The stemsprovide a starch-rich food that can also be fermented into a potent alcoholic beverage, whilst the leaves and stems providematerials for thatch, weaving, basketry and construction[, ].

The spongy interior of the trunks, as well as the leaf bases, is rich in sugars and has been found to be an excellent food, especially in time of need. The plants were formerly much used for food by the natives of the arid regions, and are still so used to some extent[, ].
The leaves are trimmed off the plant and the remaining head is roasted or boiled. The sweet pith and the leaf bases can then be eaten[]. Traditionally, the heads were often baked for about 24 hours in pits dug in the ground[, ].
Once roasted, the trunks can then be fermented and distilled in order to obtain a highly esteemed intoxicating drink known as ‘sotol’, which is a potent, colourless beverage of penetrating odour and peculiar taste[, ]. The alcohol has been extracted from sotol plants upon a commercial scale[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The tough leaves contain a fibre suitable for making rough cordage. This fibre also seems to be suitable for the manufacture of paper[].
The leaves are often used in weaving, for making baskets, rough hats, mats, handicrafts etc.[, , ].
The leaves are also much used for thatching[].

The leaf bases are used to fan charcoalfires[].

When one of the plants, covered with the dead leaves, is set on fire it will burn for some time, and the burned stumps are a familiar sight in regions where the plants occur. The leaf bases remaining on such burned plants, when removed from the trunk, make very satisfactory beds upon camping expeditions, for they are elastic and not uncomfortably hard[].

The trunks are used frequently in constructing traditional houses[].
The trunks are used for fuel[].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.