Yucca L.

Yucca

Some stemless yuccas

	Yucca angustissima	Yucca arkansana	Yucca baccata
Common Name	narrow-leaved yucca	yucca	blue yucca
Plant	Plants form basal rosettes up to 9½′ (3 m) in size, looking like giant pin cushions.	Foliage up to 2′ (60 cm); up to 7′ (2.1 m) with the flower stalk	Up to 5′ (1.5 m) around.
Leaves	8–31 ⨉ ⅛–¾″ (20–80 cm ⨉ 4–20 mm), rigid, with straight edges. Leaves are somewhat wider in the middle. They taper to a sharp point, tipped by a sharp spine. Stiff white filaments intertwine with the leaves. Upper leaf sides are usually flattened.	1–2′ (40–70 cm) long, wide at the base, narrowing toward the tips, like large grass blades, with white twisted wiry filaments. They are bluish- to yellowish-green	1–3′ long ⨉ 1–2″ wide (30–101 ⨉ 2.5–5 cm), blue-green, stiff, narrowing to sharp tips, emerging from a central base
Flowers	White, cream, or greenish white, on racemes 2½–6½′ (80–200 cm) tall. Flowers hang downward and are tapered at both ends, somewhat ovoid. Each is 1–2″ (3–5.5 cm) long. The lowest flowers open above the leaf tips.	Flowering spike is covered with numerous greenish-white or purplish urn-shaped hanging flowers, each with 3 petals	Cream-colored, copious, 1½–3½″ (3.8–8.9 cm) long, hanging downward like inverted urns, on a stalk 3–5′ (91–152 cm) tall
Fruit	A dry capsule 1¼–3 ⨉ ¾–1″ (3.5–7.5 ⨉ 2–3 cm), with dull black seeds that are ¼–5/16 ⨉ ⅛–¼″ (7–9 ⨉ 5–7 mm).	Dark brown seed capsules	3–7″ long ⨉ 2″ across (7.6–17 ⨉ 5 cm), cylindrical, sweet
Range/ Zones		USDA Zones: 6a-9b
Habitats	Sandy soils, rocky hillsides, and pinyon-juniper woodland; to 1.3 mi (2.1 km) elevation.	Open fields, edges of thickets on uplands	In pinyon-juniper, desert grassland, creosote bush scrub, sagebrush, and ponderosa pine colonies at elevations between 4921–8202′ (1.5–2.5 km).

	Yucca filamentosa	Yucca glauca	Yucca harrimaniae
Common Name	Adam’s needle	narrow-leaved yucca	spanish bayonet
Plant	2½′ (76 cm) tall × 2½′ (76 cm) wide	To 3′ (1 m) high × 4′ (1.2 m) wide	These yuccas are found in groups of one to twenty tufts, each about 12–39″ (30–100 cm) around. The closely similar species Yucca angustissima may be the same as this species, as discussed here.
Leaves	Medium green, swordlike leaves up to 3′ (91 cm) long, emerging from a central point, with wiry white filaments	Pale green, stiff, sword-shaped leaves 8–40″ (20–101 cm) long, up to ⅛–⅜″ (6–12 mm) wide	Each tuft consists of stiff, narrow, sharp-pointed leaves about 4–20 ⨉ ¼–½″ (10–50 cm ⨉ 7–14 mm). Upper leaf sides are usually concave.
Flowers	Copious, downward-hanging urn-shaped flowers with sharply pointed petals on a stalk 3–8′ (91–243 cm) tall	15-50 bell-shaped hanging flowers, greenish-white, with six petals, on a stalk 1–6½′ (30–203 cm) tall	Flower stalks are up to 2½′ (76 cm) high. Flowers are bell-shaped, white, cream, or greenish white, often tinged with purple, with purplish buds. They have 3 petals and 3 sepals. Flowers are 1½–2 ⨉ ⅝–1¼″ (4–6 ⨉ 1.6–3.5 cm) in size. The lowest flowers open below the leaf tips.
Fruit	Capsules are yellow-green to purple, about 1″ (2.5 cm) long × ½″ (1.3 cm) wide	Cylindrical capsules up 1–1¾″ (3–4.5 cm) long	Seed pods are cylindrical, 1¼–2″ long ⨉ ½–1″ around (3.5–6 ⨉ 1.5–3 cm).
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 5-10	USDA Zones: 4a-10b	USDA Zones: 5a-10a
Habitats	Common in sandy soils, especially in beach scrub and dunes, but also in fields, barrens, and rocky slopes, though it also grows well in silt or clay soils.	Dry plains and sandy hills	Grassland, sagebrush, pinyon-juniper forest, on desert ridges and hills; 3281–8858′ (1–2.7 km) elevation.

Yucca description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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