Yucca
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The yuccas comprise the genus Yucca of 40-50 species of perennials, shrubs, and trees in the agave family Agavaceae, notable for their rosettes of tough, sword-shaped leaves and large clusters of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry parts of North America, Central America, and the West Indies, and have been spread more widely as decorative plants for gardens.
Many yuccas bear edible parts, including fruits, seeds, flowers, flowering stems, and more rarely roots, but use of these is sufficiently limited that references to yucca as food more often than not stem from confusion with the similarly spelled but botanically unrelated yuca.
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Species and common names
- Yucca aloifolia, Aloe yucca
- Yucca angustissima, Narrow-leaved yucca
- Yucca angustifolia, Plain's yucca
- Yucca arkansana, Arkansas yucca
- Yucca baccata, Banana yucca also known as Blue Yucca and Datil
- Yucca baileyi, Alpine yucca
- Yucca brevifolia, Joshua tree (Engelmann)
- Yucca confinis, Yucca of the Boundary
- Yucca constricta, Buckley's yucca
- Yucca decipiens, Palma China yucca
- Yucca elata, Soaptree yucca
- Yucca elephantipes, Spineless yucca
- Yucca endlichiana, Pitilla
- Yucca faxoniana, Faxon yucca
- Yucca filamentosa, Known as , Spoonleaf yucca and filament yucca
- Yucca filifera, Palma Chuna yucca
- Yucca flaccida, Flaccid leaf yucca
- Yucca glauca, Great Plains yucca
- Yucca gloriosa, Moundlily yucca also known as the Adam's needle
- Yucca grandiflora, Sahuiliqui yucca
- Yucca harrimaniae, Harriman's yucca
- Yucca jaliscensis, Izote
Yucca-aolifolia01.jpg
- Yucca kanabensis, Kanab yucca
- Yucca lacandonica, Tropical yucca
- Yucca madrensis, Soco yucca
- Yucca nana, Dwarf yucca
- Yucca pallida, Pale yucca
- Yucca periculosa, Izote
- Yucca recurvifolia, Curve-leaf yucca
- Yucca rigida, Blue yucca
- Yucca rostrata, Big Bend yucca
- Yucca rupicola, also known as the Texas yucca, Twist-leaf yucca
- Yucca schidigera, Mojave yucca
- Yucca schottii, also known as Hoary yucca,Mountain yucca
- Yucca torreyi, Torrey yucca
- Yucca treculiana, also known as Texas bayonette, Trecul's yucca
- Yucca valida, Datilillo
- Yucca whipplei, also known as the Quixote yucca, Our Lord's Candle
- Yucca yucatana, Yucatan yucca
Additional species
- New Mexico false yucca, Yucca funifera, also named the Giant Hesperaloe and listed as Hesperaloe funifera
- Yucca intermedia
- Yucca standleyi
- Yucca thornberi
The Great Plains yucca (Yucca glauca) is the state flower of New Mexico.
Because of their omnipresence in the southwestern United States, yuccas have lent their name to several places:
See also
References
- Mary & Gary Irish, Agaves, Yuccas, and Related Plants: a Gardener's Guide (Timber Press, 2000) ISBN 0-88192-442-3
- Common names of yucca species (http://www.yuccaagavaceae.com/species.html)
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