Flora of North America species comparison

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Yucca baccata

Yucca glauca

banana yucca, datil yucca, Spanish bayonet

beargrass, Great Plains yucca, narrowleaf yucca, plains yucca, small soapweed, soapweed 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 to moderate colonies, acaulescent or caulescent and arborescent, occasionally branched; rosettes 1–15 per colony, usually small.
Stems

erect, to 0.4 m. Leaf blade linear to linear-lanceolate, concave to concavo-convex, widest near middle, 40–60 × 0.8–1.2 cm, rigid, margins entire, filiferous, white, apex blunt to acicular.
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 or just beyond rosettes, 5–10 dm;

bracts erect, leaflike, 2–5 cm, reduced toward apex;

peduncle scapelike, 0.2–0.5 m, less than 2.5 cm diam.
Flowers

pendent;

tepals distinct, greenish white to white, elliptic, 5–5.3 × 2.6–3.5 cm, apex acute;

filaments white, 1.7–1.9 cm;

anthers yellow, 4 mm;

pistil green, obovoid, 3–3.7 × 1.7 cm;

style dark green, 10 mm;

stigmas lobed.
Fruits

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

erect, capsular, dehiscent, cylindric to obovoid, rarely constricted, 5–8(–9) × 3–4.5(–5) cm, dehiscence septicidal.
Seeds

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

black, slightly glossy, thin, 9–12 × 8–9 mm.

Yucca baccata

Yucca glauca
Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Prairies and waste areas in sandy or limestone soils
Elevation 500–2600 m (1600–8500 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
North America; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; IA; KS; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WY; AB
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Yucca glauca has the most extensive distribution of any North American Yucca. Its inflorescences are primarily racemose, but some plants exhibit branched inflorescences and varietal names have been given them. Yucca glauca and Y. arkansana are very similar. The leaves of Y. glauca are uniform in size, rigid, linear or linear-lanceolate, and up to 1.2 cm wide. In Y. arkansana, the young leaves immediately surrounding the peduncle are distinctly shorter than the outer leaves of the rosette, and mature leaves are generally somewhat flexible, lanceolate, and up to 2.5 cm wide. K. H. Clary’s (1997) DNA evidence does not indicate as close a relationship as the morphological characters suggest. J. M. Webber (1953) believed that Y. glauca forms hybrids with Y. baileyi, Y. elata, Y. constricta, and Y. angustissima.

(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. 437.
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. arkansana, Y. baccata, Y. baileyi, Y. brevifolia, Y. campestris, Y. constricta, Y. elata, Y. faxoniana, Y. filamentosa, Y. flaccida, 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, Y. glauca var. gurneyi, Y. glauca var. stricta, Y. stricta
Name authority Torrey: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 221. (1859) Nuttall: Cat. Pl. Upper Louisiana, no. 89. (1813)
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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