Dasylirion: which one?

[jam]

Identifying various Dasylirion species can be challenging. This one has green leaves with spines facing backwards in the first 1/3 of a leaf, followed by some neutral spines and spines facing forward in the second half of the length. The back of the leaves feels smooth at the spoon part but turns to sand paper of fine grain size. In between spines there's also minute serration of the leaf blade. You can't see it properly, but perhaps only 2-3 leaves end with fiber tufts, the rest has just a dry tip 5cm (2 inch) long.

@Meangreen94z Daniel, you've seen thousands of texanum and leiophylum, would you rule out any of these?
@Paul S You're into Dasies. The photos you posted in the D. serratifolium gallery do not show up. Would you rule out this species if I tell you you wouldn't strike a match on the backside of a leaf?
@ anyone else, please chip in...

[westfork]

I have a Dasylirion miquihuanense that has similar spines with the lower spines facing inwards like a Dasylirion leiophyllum and the mid ones neutral. The top third can't make up their minds between neutral and outward facing. Most of the leaf ends are tufted with only a few being solid.

Tried a photo but hard to show much of the leaf sides.

[Meangreen94z]

I agree Dasylirion miquihuanensis seems like a good fit. Here’s a reference on a few species:

https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1367

[Paul S]

It is certainly a green one with teeth.

Edit, looking at the right picture now

I am not sure about the twist to the leaf for miquihuanensis, or the tufts. Without knowing the provenance of the seed it is going to be a tough call, they can all look so similar. Plus if it originated from one of the Spanish or Italian growers they collect seed from their field grown plants that have open pollination so could be any kind of mutt.

Now I have read it, the Dave's Garden entry for D. miquihuanensis is wrong. I guess there is always a tendency to stick the name miquihuanensis on plants growing around Miquihuana but it is complicated by there being more than one. Around Miquihuana there are actually 4 dasys: D. quadrangulatum, D. berlandieri and 2 others. D. miquihuananensis and a sp Nova. They have got, and describe, the D. sp Nova. D. miquihuanensis is a huge trunked beast with stiff leaves that don't have tufts, this was described by Bogler and these plants conform with that. The sp. Nova is trunkless and has very freyed tips, a beautiful and distinct plant from the others.

Here is D. miquihuanensis

DSC_0156.JPG (319.39 KiB) Viewed 2151 times

Here the little fella

DSC_0342.JPG (392.04 KiB) Viewed 2151 times

[jam]

I've checked out photos of miquihuanensis on the net and really my plant looks like many of them. Thanks Westfork and Daniel for your opinion.

Paul, yes, it is of Italian origin and could be a hybrid. And yes, leaves tend to twist a bit and the tips are just dry, not sporting tufts. I already regret starting this thread. It can be frustrating when you feel uncertain about the right answer.

[Meangreen94z]

I've checked out photos of miquihuanensis on the net and really my plant looks like many of them. Thanks Westfork and Daniel for your opinion.

Paul, yes, it is of Italian origin and could be a hybrid. And yes, leaves tend to twist a bit and the tips are just dry, not sporting tufts. I already regret starting this thread. It can be frustrating when you feel uncertain about the right answer.

Definitely don’t regret posting, I had to do some referencing myself. Dasylirion can be tricky to identify once they are out of habitat, or the label(if accurate)is lost. Plus we got another one of Paul’s extremely informative posts, with information you probably wouldn’t find anywhere else on the internet.

[jam]

Thanks for your concern, Daniel. I am taking it easy Perhaps I should buy plants only from verified sources but that may be problematic if you live so far away from their natural habitat. Having said that, it's been the case many times that even reputed nurseries/sellers were handling plants with wrong IDs. This particular plant was bought with a label stating Dasylirion serratifolium but any Dasylirion with teeth coming from Italy or Spain is called serratifolium despite this species being rather rare in cultivation, at least in Europe.

Re Paul's input, I value the knowledge and habitat pictures he's sharing. I stumbled across this forum thanks to Paul

[Merrick]

I've checked out photos of miquihuanensis on the net and really my plant looks like many of them. Thanks Westfork and Daniel for your opinion.

Paul, yes, it is of Italian origin and could be a hybrid. And yes, leaves tend to twist a bit and the tips are just dry, not sporting tufts. I already regret starting this thread. It can be frustrating when you feel uncertain about the right answer.

Definitely don’t regret posting, I had to do some referencing myself. Dasylirion can be tricky to identify once they are out of habitat, or the label(if accurate)is lost. Plus we got another one of Paul’s extremely informative posts, with information you probably wouldn’t find anywhere else on the internet.

Your post inspired beneficial debate and research. Identifying Dasylirion can be difficult, but Paul's helpful comments add to our understanding by providing insights that are not readily available somewhere online.Magic 8 ball