The yucca-like Desert Spoon (Dasylirion wheeleri) is also known as Sotol. It is very similar to Beargrass and grows in the same habitat. However the hundreds of long, narrow leaves of Desert Spoon are armed with small, sharp, marginal teeth. The rosettes of leaves are usually stemless and up to 6 feet in diameter. In older plants, a trunk may develop and the trunk itself can be as much as 6 feet tall. Like Beargrass, the taxonomic classification of Desert Spoon has changed from time to time.
According to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, “Desert spoon grows on rocky hillsides and slopes at 3000 to 6000 foot elevation in southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, northern and eastern Sonora, Mexico, and in west Texas. Despite its English name, it is primarily a grassland species that extends into the desert. Blooming plants attract huge numbers of insects, including flies, bees, wasps, and butterflies.”
The other name for Desert Spoon, Sotol, is also the name of a distilled spirit made from the plant (in a process similar to making mescal from agaves). It is known as the state drink of Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila. The inner part of the plants and the core of the flower stems are edible. (Source) The plant is protected in Arizona.
Desert Spoon is used as a landscaping plant, but should be kept away from walkways because of the spines on the leaves. See many photos here.
Below is a list of my articles on the natural history of the Sonoran Desert. I invite readers to suggest subjects for more stories.
Thirteen venomous animals of the Southwestern desert.
BIRDS
Cactus Wrens – Arizona’s very noisy state bird
Cardinals, Pyrrhuloxias and a cameo appearance by Phainopepla
Curve-billed Thrasher – a bold and inquisitive bird
Great Blue Herons in the desert
Nighthawks and Poorwills, birds of the night
Thick-billed Parrots in Arizona
Western Tanager – a flaming red-head‘
REPTILES
Horned Lizard’s clever defenses
MAMMALS
Creatures of the night – Ringtails
Creatures of the Night: The Bats
Desert Museum gets new black bear
Kit Fox – another creature of the night
Mountain lion dietary supplementation plan
New Bighorn sheep lamb born at Desert Museum
New mountain lion takes over at the Desert Museum
Pack Rats are Desert Archaeologists
Wolf attacks on humans in North America
ARACHNIDS AND INSECTS
Carpenter Bees – black and gold and smelling like roses
Palo verde root borers are emerging
Pepsis wasps have the most painful sting
The Cochineal, a little bug with a valuable product
The Sex Life of Bruchid Beetles
Venomous Centipedes and Cyanide-Oozing Millipedes
AMPHIBIANS
Creature of the Night – Spadefoots
PLANTS
Agaves provide food, fiber and adult beverages
Cactus water will make you sick
Chain-fruit and teddy bear cholla cactus
Chiltepin peppers, spice and medicine
Desert Broom – another medicinal plant
Desert Tobacco, a Pretty but Poisonous Desert Plant
Devil’s Claw provides food, fiber and medicine
Guayacán a pretty flowering tree
Invasion of the Popcorn Flowers
Joshua Trees of the Mohave Desert
Medusa’s Head a strange and useful plant
Mesquite trees provide food, fuel, medicine, and more
Oak trees of the Sonoran Desert region
Ocotillo – an aide to hummingbirds and geologists
Palo brea trees and their uses
Palo Verde trees about to turn the desert golden
Sacred Datura – pretty, poisonous, and hallucinogenic
Saguaro Cactus Icon of the Sonoran Desert
Spectacular flowers of the red Torch Cactus
Staghorn and Buckhorn Cholla Cactus