Bear grass is a flowering perennial plant in the lily family. It can be found in many parts of North America, usually in the subalpine zone, although certain areas of low ground host bear grass as well. A variety of common names are used to refer to the plant, which is known botanically as Xerophyllum tenax. The common names include elk grass, squaw grass, fire lily, soap grass, and Indian basket grass. Some of these names are clearly references to the plant's growth habit and uses.

A bear grass plant can grow up to 60 inches (150 centimeters) in height. The leaves grow in a tight cluster around a central stalk, and the flowers grow on tall stalks which jut up from the leaves. The leaves resemble long blades, and have lightly serrated edges. The flowers grow in club like clusters of white disc shaped flowers. The flowers also have a distinctive faintly sweet scent, and are a familiar part of the alpine environment.

Native Americans used the leaves and roots of bear grass to make traditional baskets. Bear grass baskets often integrated materials from other plants to make colorful patterns, and they would have been strong and durable. Some Native Americans also used bear grass to make protective caps for their heads. The leaves are also used in dried flower arrangements.

After an individual bear grass plant flowers, it dies, reseeding itself through the landscape. Bear grass also reproduces through the use of rhizomes, dense clusters of underground roots. After a fire, bear grass is one of the first plants to return, since it puts up fresh shoots from the rhizomes. This makes bear grass an important part of fire ecology, and the plant actually benefits from periodic burns.

The trend to suppress fires, rather than allowing them to burn, has led to a heavy accumulation of highly flammable undergrowth in American forests. This results in fires which burn much hotter when they are allowed to burn, resulting in severe damage to plants like bear grass which normally thrived on periodic fires. Formerly, a fire burned quickly and lightly, consuming a small collection of flammable undergrowth before dying out. The raging wildfires associated with American forests are the result of human intervention, not nature.

In some parts of the United States, “bear grass” refers to other plants such as Nolina microcarpa and some plants in the yucca family. Many of these plants look similar to Xerophyllum tenax, leading to some confusion among people who are not skilled at plant identification. All of these plants can be used in gardening as a decorative plant, and some nurseries compound the confusion by labeling all of them as “bear grass.”