VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Nolina microcarpa | Sacahuista 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Sacahuista has little value for livestock.  Cattle graze the foliage
only in times of drought.  If they are forced to make extensive use of
the plant they may be poisoned [15].  Sacahuista is habituative and
extremely toxic to sheep and goats.  Toxicosis results in loss of
appetite, depression, and death within 3 to 10 days from
photosensitization, hyperbilirubinemia (excess amounts of bile pigment
in the blood stream), and renal damage or renal failure [27].

Deer (Odocoileus spp.), however, can consume large portions of
sacahuista seasonally, with no apparent ill effect.  The flower heads
and stalks comprise 12 percent and 10 percent of white-tailed deer (O.
virginianus) and mule deer (O. hemionus) diets, respectively, from May
to June [2].  The foliage is used by both species in drought years [30],
but in moist years only mule deer browse the foliage, usually for a
brief time in the spring [1].


PALATABILITY : 
Palatability of sacahuista is generally poor for wildlife and livestock.
The succulent new growth is the most palatable to cattle and mule deer
[24,30].  The palatability of sacahuista to livestock and wildlife
species in several western states has been rated as follows [1,2,15,30]:

                         AZ     NV     NM     TX

Cattle                  Poor   Poor   Poor   Poor
Mule deer               Fair   Fair   Fair   Fair
White-tailed deer       Poor   Poor   Poor   Poor


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Urness and McCulloch [30] compared the nutritional values of the forage
species common in Arizonia chaparral; their results showed sacahuista to
be of poor nutritional quality.  Protein composition of sacahuista was
the lowest of the species sampled.  Phosphorus:calcium ratio was 1:4,
which is indicative of a nutritionally poor forage species, due to the
supression of phosphorus uptake from excess calcium.

Catlin [8] reported the nutritional values for sacahuista in the spring
as follows:

N2-Free                     Crude         Crude          
Extract       Ash           Protein        Fiber           Fat
                        (percent composition)
44.98         3.15           4.68           44.96          2.23


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Native Americans used sacahuista foliage to weave baskets and mats [18]
and ate the flower stalks and caudex raw, boiled, or roasted [17].

During World War II, sacahuista was discovered to have commerical value
as a source of fiber.  Since then, it has been harvested in Arizona, New
Mexico, and northern Mexico.  The fiber is used as a substitute for
broomstraw in the production of corn brooms [18].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Sacahuista can be used as an indicator of range condition.  Darrow [9]
reported the following indicator values for Arizona rangeland:

Range Condition                   Indication

Good                              Flower stalks selectively browsed
                                  and foliage exhibits no cropping

Fair                              No flower stalks, and foliage
                                  shows signs of cropping

Poor                              Pure stands of sacahuista are 
                                  noticeably hedged

When planning grazing allotments the land manager should inform the
livestock owner of the presence of sacahuista and the danger of
toxicosis.  Preliminary evidence suggests that an oral treatment with an
aqueaus zinc sulfate at 0.0235 ounces per pound (30 mg/kg) of body
weight may be an effective prophylactic as well as a therapy for
toxicosis in sheep [27].

The commerical harvest of wild sacahuista stands on public and private
lands every 18 to 22 months yields approximately 38,175 pounds per acre
(42,750 kg/ha) of foliage [18].  This harvest increases available forage
for cattle and deer by opening areas for more desirable forage species
and increasing the production of new, succulent sacahuista foliage
[18,24].

Related categories for Species: Nolina microcarpa | Sacahuista