Flora of North America species comparison

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Yucca baccata

Yucca arkansana

banana yucca, datil yucca, Spanish bayonet

Arkansas yucca
Habit Plants often forming open colonies of rosettes, acaulescent or short-caulescent, shorter than 2.5 m. Stems, if present, decumbent, 1–24, aerial or subterranean, simple or sometimes branched, to 2 m. Leaf blade erect, bluish green, concavo-convex, 30–100 × 2–6 cm, rigid, scabrous or glaucous, margins brown. Plants forming small colonies, acaulescent or caulescent; rosettes usually small.
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.
Inflorescences

erect, paniculate, dense, arising completely within to mostly extending beyond rosettes, ovoid, 6–8.2 dm, glabrous, rarely slightly pubescent;

peduncle scapelike, to 0.8 m. Flowers pendent, 5–13 cm, nearly as wide;

perianth campanulate;

tepals connate basally to form shallow floral cup 7–12 mm, usually cream-colored, occasionally tinged with purple, 4.5–13 cm;

filaments connate proximally into collarlike structure, 3.2–12 mm, fleshy, pubescent;

anthers 5–7 mm;

pistil 4.5–8 × 0.7–1.2 cm (usually 4–5(–7) times longer than broad);

ovary 0.7–1.2 cm;

style 5–7 mm;

stigmas distinct.

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.
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

pendent, baccate, indehiscent, elongate, 5–23 × 4–7.5 cm, fleshy, succulent.

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

dull black, obovate, 7–11 mm diam., 3 mm thick, rugose.

dull black, thin, ca. 1 cm diam.

Yucca baccata

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

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

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.)
Key
1. Plants acaulescent or caulescent; stems 1–6, aerial or subterranean, shorter than 0.3 m; leaf margins coarse, curling.
var. baccata
1. Plants caulescent; stems 1–24, aerial, often branched, some reaching 2 m; leaf margins filiferous.
var. brevifolia
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 427. FNA vol. 26, p. 436.
Parent taxa Agavaceae > Yucca Agavaceae > Yucca
Sibling taxa
Y. aloifolia, Y. angustissima, Y. arkansana, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
Y. baccata var. baccata, Y. baccata var. brevifolia
Synonyms Y. angustifolia var. mollis, Y. arkansana var. paniculata, Y. glauca var. mollis
Name authority Torrey: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 221. (1859) Trelease: Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard. 13: 63. (1902)
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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