A North American mountain plant with grass-like leaves and tall summer plumes of cream-white flowers, important to several Indigenous craft traditions.
Description
Bear grass forms dense tussocks of tough, narrow, grass-like leaves. In summer mature plants send up a stout flowering stalk bearing a dense club of small cream-white star-shaped flowers.
Cultivation
It grows in dry mountain forests and meadows from California to British Columbia, tolerating poor rocky soil and seasonal fire. Plants bloom irregularly, often every five to seven years.
Uses
The tough fibrous leaves are prized by Pacific Northwest tribes for waterproof basketry. Florists use the dried foliage in arrangements, and grizzly bears reportedly use the leaves for nesting material.
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