Introductory
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum | Smooth-Leaf Sotol 



ABBREVIATION : 
DASLEI

SYNONYMS : 
NO-ENTRY


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   DALE


COMMON NAMES : 
   smooth-leaf sotol
   smooth sotol
   sotol


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name of smooth-leaf sotol is
Dasylirion leiophyllum Engelm. [2,15].  There are no recognized
subspecies, varieties, or forms.


LIFE FORM : 
Shrub

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Julie L. Tesky, September 1993.


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Tesky, Julie L. 1993. Dasylirion leiophyllum. In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum | Smooth-Leaf Sotol 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Smooth-leaf sotol occurs from southern Texas in the Rio Grande region
north into New Mexico and south to central Chihuahua, Mexico.  In Texas,
it also occurs at Presidio, Eagle Pass, and Van Horn; in New Mexico
smooth-leaf sotol occurs in the Florida Mountains [2,15].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES30  Desert shrub
   FRES32  Texas savanna
   FRES33  Southwestern shrubsteppe
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES35  Pinyon - juniper
   FRES40  Desert grasslands


STATES : 
     NM  TX  MEXICO


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BIBE


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    7  Lower Basin and Range
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K023  Juniper - pinyon woodland
   K024  Juniper steppe woodland
   K031  Oak - juniper woodlands
   K032  Transition between K031 and K037
   K033  Chaparral
   K037  Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
   K040  Saltbush - greasewood
   K041  Creosotebush
   K042  Creosotebush - bursage
   K043  Paloverde - cactus shrub
   K044  Creosotebush - tarbush
   K045  Ceniza shrub
   K046  Desert: vegetation largely lacking
   K053  Grama - galleta steppe
   K054  Grama - tobosa prairie
   K057  Galleta - three-awn shrubsteppe
   K058  Grama - tobosa shrubsteppe
   K059  Trans-Pecos shrub savanna


SAF COVER TYPES : 
    72  Southern scrub oak
   239  Pinyon - juniper
   241  Western live oak


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Smooth-leaf sotol is dominant in the Chihuahuan Desert region on
gravelly to bouldered low south-facing slopes of the Guadalupe
Escarpment, New Mexico and Texas [7].  It is listed as a dominant
species of sotol-agave (Dasylirion-Agave) and walnut/sotol
(Juglans/sotol) vegetation types in:  Vegetation of the Guadalupe
Escarpment, New Mexico-Texas [7].

VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum | Smooth-Leaf Sotol 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 



PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
The leaves of smooth-leaf sotol are used to make mats, baskets, and
paper [15].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum | Smooth-Leaf Sotol 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Smooth-leaf sotol is a large leaf-succulent shrub [2,15].  The leaves
are 0.7 to 0.9 inches (2-2.5 cm) broad, 23 to 31 inches (60-80 cm) long,
and basally clumped from a short trunk [2,15].  The inflorescence is a
stout, narrow, spicate panicle [about 1 foot (0.3 m) long] borne on a
rather tall scape.  The fruit is an indehiscent, winged capsule [15].

No specific information was found in the literature regarding longevity
or roots.  However, a similar species, Texas sotol (Dasylirion texanum)
has a large number of roots, each about 0.2 inch (0.5 mm) in diameter,
forming a cluster at the base of the stem.  The roots of Texas sotol run
downward at an acute angle and also extend horizontally into the soil.
The roots are coarse and are found between 5.9 to 14.1 inches (15-36 cm)
below the soil surface.


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Chamaephyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Sexual reproduction - Smooth-leaf sotol plants are dioecious.  They
produce thousands of tiny flowers in a long narrow cluster [11].  The
seed is contained in a one-celled three-winged capsule [15].

Vegetative reproduction - Smooth-leaf sotol reproduces vegetatively
by sprouting from the terminal bud, which is located at the base of the
leaf [1,9].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Smooth-leaf sotol is found on hillsides, in deciduous woodlands, and in
grasslands of desert regions [2,7].  It is often found growing in soils
with limestone substrate [7,11].  Smooth-leaf sotol is commonly found on
south-facing boulder slopes and streambeds at elevations between 4,200
and 5,500 feet (1,280-1,676 m).  This shrub is generally not abundant
where permanent surface water is present [7].

Smooth-leaf sotol is often associated with lechuguilla (Agave
lecheguilla), walnut (Juglans spp.), prickly pear (Opuntia spp.), yucca
(Yucca spp.), nolina (Nolina spp.), Pinchot juniper (Juniperus
pinchotii), wavyleaf oak (Quercus undulata), skeleton goldeye (Viguiera
stenoloba), curlyleaf muhly (Muhlenbergia setifolia), grama (Bouteloua
spp.), threeawn (Aristida spp.) and slim tridens (Tridens muticus)
[7,9,17].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
No specific information on seasonal development of smooth-leaf sotol was
found.  However, a similar species, Wheeler sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri),
flowers in spring or early summer [2].  In the Chihuahuan Desert, New
Mexico, Wheeler sotol flower buds are initiated in mid- to late May,
flowering occurs in June and July, and fruits are mature by August [16].

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum | Smooth-Leaf Sotol 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Smooth-leaf sotol occurs in southwestern desert and semidesert plant
communities of North America that are subject to naturally occurring
fire [9].  Small, presumably young, plants have green leaves extending
to the ground and are usually only slightly scorched by fire [9].  The
sheath of dead leaves surrounding the trunk of mature smooth-leaf sotols
makes them especially susceptible to fire, and plants with fire-girdled
trunks usually die [1].

Mature smooth-leaf sotols are tall enough and have sufficient fuel at
the base that fires will ignite after plants are struck by lightning
[9].  These large plants contribute to fire travel, but their spacing is
such that other fuel is often required to carry fire from one
smooth-leaf sotol to another.  Plant material covered only about 60
percent of the ground in grama grass-rosette scrub communities in the
Chisos Mountains, Texas [19].  Smooth-leaf may burn for hours.  If the
stem burns through, the top of the plant may spread fire by falling and
rolling downhill.  Suppression crews frequently chop mature smooth-leaf
sotols off at their trunks and split them open to check fire spread [9].

Smooth-leaf sotol regrows from the terminal bud after fire [1].



POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Small shrub, adventitious-bud root crown

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum | Smooth-Leaf Sotol 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
The ability of smooth-leaf sotol to survive fire is dependent upon
individual plant morphology and the frequency and severity of fire.  On
3- to 7-year-old burned sites near the northern limits of the Chihuahuan
Desert, smooth-leaf sotol showed losses in excess of 50 percent [1].
Coverage and frequency of smooth-leaf sotol were 75 percent lower on
burned sites than on unburned sites [1]. Two years after an August fire
in a desert mountain shrub community, density of smooth-leaf sotol was
reduced 30 percent.  Coverage on the control (unburned site) was 9.06
percent, while it was only 2.44 percent on the burned site [18].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Smooth-leaf sotol occasionally sprouts from the terminal bud if lightly
or moderately burned [1,9].  Surviving sotol regain most of their
postfire cover within 3 years, but 15 to 20 years are required for
plants to accumulate shaggy bases of dead leaves [1,9].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Periodic fires can be used to maintain or even increase grass cover at
the expense of shrubs such as smooth-leaf sotol in desert communities
[1,9].

REFERENCES
SPECIES: Dasylirion leiophyllum | Smooth-Leaf Sotol 



REFERENCES : 

.  Ahlstrand, Gary M. 1982. Response of Chihuahuan Desert mountain shrub
       vegetation to burning. Journal of Range Management. 35(1): 62-65.  [296]

.  Benson, Lyman; Darrow, Robert A. 1981. The trees and shrubs of the
       Southwestern deserts. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press. 
       [18066]

.  Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
       reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
       associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
       U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. 
       [434]

.  Cannon, William Austin. 1911. The root habits of desert plants.
       Washington, DC: The Carnegie Institution of Washington. 96 p.  [5003]

.  Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
       Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p.  [905]

.  Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
       1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
       ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p.  [998]

.  Gehlbach, Frederick R. 1967. Vegetation of the Guadalupe Escarpment, New
       Mexico-Texas. Ecology. 48(3): 404-419.  [5149]

.  Kearney, Thomas H.; Peebles, Robert H.; Howell, John Thomas; McClintock,
       Elizabeth. 1960. Arizona flora. 2d ed. Berkeley, CA: University of
       California Press. 1085 p.  [6563]

.  Kittams, Walter H. 1973. Effect of fire on vegetation of the Chihuahuan
       Desert region. In:  Proceedings, annual Tall Timbers fire ecology
       conference; 1972 June 8-9; Lubbock, Texas. No. 12. Tallahassee, FL: Tall
       Timbers Research Station: 427-444.  [6271]

.  Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
       of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
       American Geographical Society. 77 p.  [1384]

.  MacMahon, James A. 1985. The Audubon Society nature guides: Deserts. New
       York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 638 p.  [4956]

.  Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
       geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p.  [2843]

.  Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
       Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
       Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p.  [20090]

.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
       National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
       SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p.  [11573]

.  Vines, Robert A. 1960. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of the Southwest.
       Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. 1104 p.  [7707]

.  Kemp, Paul R. 1983. Phenological patterns of Chihuahuan desert plants in
       relation to the timing of water availability. Journal of Ecology. 71:
       427-436.  [5054]

.  Brown, David E. 1982. Chihuahuan desertscrub. In: Brown, David E., ed.
       Biotic communities of the American Southwest--United States and Mexico.
       Desert Plants. 4(1-4): 169-179.  [3607]

.  Spears, Brian M.; Barr, William F. 1985. Effect of jointworms on the
       growth and reproduction of four native range grasses of Idaho. Journal
       of Range Management. 38(1): 44-46.  [2205]

.  Dick-Peddie, William A.; Alberico, Michael S. 1977. Fire ecology study
       of the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park, Texas: Phase I. CDRI
       Contribution No. 35. Alpine, TX: The Chihuahuan Desert Research
       Institute. 47 p.  [5002]

Related categories for Species: Dasylirion leiophyllum | Smooth-Leaf Sotol