Flora of North America species comparison

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Yucca arkansana

Yucca gloriosa

Arkansas yucca

moundlily yucca
Habit Plants forming small colonies, acaulescent or caulescent; rosettes usually small. Plants forming colonies of rosettes, caulescent, arborescent, simple or more often branching.
Stems

decumbent, short, to 0.2 m. Leaf blade mostly yellowish green, flattened, grasslike, concavo-convex, widest near middle, 20–60(–70) × 0.7–2(–2.5) cm, flexible, margins entire, curled, filiferous, apex long, tapering to short spines 1.6–3.2 mm.

erect, to 5 m. Leaf blade erect or recurving, green or blue-green, lanceolate or sword-shaped, flattened, concave distally, thin, 40–100 × 3.5–6 cm, rigid or flexible, glaucous at least when young, margins entire or roughly and minutely denticulate, often becoming filiferous with straight fibers, yellow or brown, opaque.
Inflorescences

racemose, occasionally paniculate proximally, arising within rosettes or at rosette level, 3–6(–8) dm, glabrous;

bracts erect;

peduncle scapelike, 0.2–0.5(–0.6) m, 0.3–0.7(–1.3) cm diam.

paniculate, arising partly within to well beyond rosettes, ovoid to ellipsoid, 5–12 × 4.5 dm, glabrous or pubescent;

peduncle scapelike, 0.9–1.5 m. Flowers pendent;

perianth globose to campanulate;

tepals distinct, white to creamy white or greenish white, sometimes tinged with purple, elliptic to narrowly ovate, 4–5 × 2–2.5 cm;

filaments ca. 2.6 cm, hispid or slightly papillose;

anthers ca. 3.5 mm;

pistil light green, ca. 3.6 cm;

ovary sessile, ca. 2.8 cm;

style ca. 9 mm;

stigmas separate;

pedicel to 2 cm, often arching.
Flowers

pendent;

perianth globose;

tepals distinct, greenish white, elliptic to orbicular or oblong, 3.2–6.5 × 2–5 cm;

filaments 1.3–2.5 cm;

anthers 3.2 mm;

pistil 2.5–2.8(–3.2) cm;

style dark green, 7–13 mm, tumid;

stigmas lobed.

Fruits

erect, capsular, dehiscent, oblong-cylindric to obovoid, constricted near middle, stout, 4–6.5(–7) × 2–3 cm, dehiscence septicidal.

erect or pendent, baccate, with core, indehiscent, 6-winged or 6-ribbed, elongate, 2.5–8 cm, leathery.
Seeds

dull black, thin, ca. 1 cm diam.

black, lustrous, ovate, thin, 5–8 mm diam. 2n = 50.

Yucca arkansana

Yucca gloriosa
Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Gravelly soil, limestone outcrops, rocky hillsides, prairies
Elevation 100–400 m (300–1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; KS; MO; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
se United States
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Yucca arkansana shows considerable variation, particularly in the eastern part of its range. S. D. McKelvey (1938–1947) described var. paniculata and suggested that it is an eastern extension of the species with a taller, paniculate, and pubescent inflorescence. Yucca arkansana approaches Y. louisianensis, which we have reduced to synonymy under Y. flaccida. K. H. Clary’s (1997) DNA consensus tree places Y. arkansana and Y. louisianensis adjacent to one another.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Yucca gloriosa has a growth habit similar to that of Y. aloifolia, except that the former appears more moundlike due to the terminal branching mode, whereas the latter appears more open because the branching is more median on the trunk.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade mostly erect, rigid; inflorescences extending well beyond rosettes; berries pendent, 5.5–8 cm.
var. gloriosa
1. Leaf blade mostly recurving, flexible; inflorescences barely extending beyond rosettes; berries mostly erect, 2.5–4.5 cm.
var. recurvifolia
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 436. FNA vol. 26, p. 429.
Parent taxa Agavaceae > Yucca Agavaceae > Yucca
Sibling taxa
Y. aloifolia, Y. angustissima, Y. baccata, Y. baileyi, Y. brevifolia, Y. campestris, Y. constricta, Y. elata, Y. faxoniana, Y. filamentosa, Y. flaccida, Y. glauca, Y. gloriosa, Y. harrimaniae, Y. intermedia, Y. madrensis, Y. necopina, Y. neomexicana, Y. pallida, Y. reverchonii, Y. rostrata, Y. rupicola, Y. schidigera, Y. tenuistyla, Y. thompsoniana, Y. treculeana, Y. utahensis
Y. aloifolia, Y. angustissima, Y. arkansana, Y. baccata, Y. baileyi, Y. brevifolia, Y. campestris, Y. constricta, Y. elata, Y. faxoniana, Y. filamentosa, Y. flaccida, Y. glauca, Y. harrimaniae, Y. intermedia, Y. madrensis, Y. necopina, Y. neomexicana, Y. pallida, Y. reverchonii, Y. rostrata, Y. rupicola, Y. schidigera, Y. tenuistyla, Y. thompsoniana, Y. treculeana, Y. utahensis
Subordinate taxa
Y. gloriosa var. gloriosa, Y. gloriosa var. recurvifolia
Synonyms Y. angustifolia var. mollis, Y. arkansana var. paniculata, Y. glauca var. mollis
Name authority Trelease: Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard. 13: 63. (1902) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 319. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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