Texas Bear-grass is a 1 1/2-2 1/2 ft. perennial with large, woody, basal stems growing in a clump. Leaves evergreen, firm textured, long, thin, up to 4 feet long by 3/16 inch wide, forming a thick clump. The roundish leaves often have tiny widely-spaced teeth along portions of the margins. Flowers small, usually white to cream, in dense vertical clusters 10 inches or more long by 2 inches or more wide at the tops of rather short stems, appearing in spring and early summer. Fruit distinctly 3-lobed, a thin-walled capsule 3/16 to 1/4 inch wide. Flowers barely protrude above the foliage.The name Sacahuista is derived from two Aztec words meaning “thorn grass”: zacatl (grass) and huitztli (thorn).