Dasylirion acrotrichum - Sotol

The Dasylirion acrotrichum, just like its yucca cousins, is part of a group of plants from semi-desert climates that are hardy enough to acclimatise in many regions that are not too cold, provided they can offer it the perfectly drained soil of a large rock garden or gravel bed, dry in winter. It is a trendy, architectural plant, decorative all year round, which is content with very little but makes an impression. This acrotrichum species is characterised by its thin leaves, with spiny margins, of a glaucous colour, ending in a curved horned bud. With the appearance of a large sea urchin planted on a short trunk, this plant blooms after many years in the form of a tall floral stem adorned with small cream-coloured flowers. Dasylirion can be grown in the ground or in a pot. It is an excellent plant for dry gardens and poor, rocky or sandy soil.

Native to the mountainous areas of central Mexico, the Dasylirion acrotrichum is capable of withstanding temperatures of around -12/-15°C (10.4/5 °F) in well-drained soil, if it is somewhat sheltered from the 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, the Dasylirion forms a dense, shaggy ball. After many years, it can form a trunk 1 to 1.50m (3 ft 4 in to 4 ft 11 in) high, covered with the remnants of old leaves, brown in colour, forming a sort of skirt. These can be cut to highlight the trunk. The trunk often ends up lying down without stopping growing. It bears a spherical crown 80cm (31.5 in) to 1m (3 ft 4 in) wide, composed of several hundred thin, succulent, radiating leaves, bordered with spines and ending in a small hook. The leaves are green-blue in colour. 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, among the leaves. The small flowers, cream to pale yellow in colour, are tightly packed along the stem and remain on the plant for a long time, often until winter. Male plants are distinct from female plants. When watered during the summer, this Dasylirion shows spectacular growth. The location of this plant should be carefully chosen and it should not be disturbed anymore: its fragile root system does not like to be disturbed at all and does not take transplantation well. Unlike the agave, the dasylirion is not a monocarpic plant: flowering does not cause the death of the rosette, a lateral bud located on the main axis of the plant will take over.

The Dasylirion acrotrichum is an astonishing plant, interesting all year round. Superb in a large pot with simple shapes, it is perfect in a minimalist composition. Give it plenty of sun 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 rock garden in an exotic or contemporary style, 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 silver basket, Cerastostigma plumbaginoides, Delosperma or even a dry ground 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.