Flora of North America species comparison

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Yucca elata

Yucca elata var. elata

palmella, soap-tree yucca, soap-weed yucca
Photo is of parent taxon
Habit Plants solitary or forming small colonies of rosettes, caulescent or rarely acaulescent, distinctly arborescent, mostly few-branched, 1.2–4.5 m; rosettes usually large, symmetrical or asymmetrical. Plants caulescent, arborescent, 1.2–4.5 m. Stems 1–2.5 m. Leaf blade 30–95 × 0.4–1.3 cm.
Stems

1–7 per colony, erect, thick, 1–1.5(–2.5) m. Leaf blade pale green, linear, widest near middle, 25–95 × 0.2–1.3 cm, flexible, margins entire, curled, filiferous, whitish, apex tapering to short spine.

Inflorescences

mostly paniculate, sometimes distally racemose, arising beyond rosettes, mostly narrowly ovoid to ovoid, 7–15 × 2.5–6.5 dm;

branches 0.7–3.5 dm;

bracts erect;

peduncle sometimes scapelike, 1–2 m, 2.5–5.5 cm diam.

paniculate, 7–15 dm;

branches 0.7–2.5 dm;

peduncle 1–2 m. Flowers: tepals 4.5–5.7 × 1.3–3.2 cm;

filaments 2–2.5(–3.2) cm;

anthers 3.2–4.8 mm;

pistil 2.8–3.2 cm.
Flowers

pendent;

perianth campanulate or globose;

tepals distinct, creamy white, often tinged green or pink, narrow to broadly elliptic or ovate, 3.2–5.7 × 1.3–3.2 cm;

filaments 1.5–2.5(–3.2) cm, pubescent;

anthers (2–)2.5–4.8 mm;

pistil 2–3.2 × 0.6–1 cm;

style white or pale green, 6–11 mm;

stigmas lobed.

Fruits

erect, capsular, dehiscent, oblong-cylindric, symmetrical or rarely constricted, 4–8.2 × 2–4 cm, dehiscence septicidal.

Capsules

5–8.2 × 2.5–4 cm.
Seeds

dull black, thin, 7–11(–14) mm diam.

2n

= 30.

Yucca elata

Yucca elata var. elata
Phenology Flowering spring–early summer.
Habitat Desert hillsides, grasslands
Elevation 400–1900 m (1300–6200 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
North America; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; n Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora)
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

J. L. Reveal (1977c) reduced S. D. McKelvey’s (1938–1947) Yucca utahensis and Y. verdiensis to varieties of Y. elata based primarily u!pon growth forms. J. M. Webber (1953) considered that these taxa are populations of hybrids between members of the Y. glauca alliance of the Great Plains and Y. elata of the American Southwest. Reveal believed that Webber did not provide adequate justification for his hybrid hypothesis. K. H. Clary (1997, pers. comm.) believes that Y. utahensis is genetically distinct from Y. elata and Y. verdiensis, based on DNA evidence and the morphological characters of style, stigma, fruit, and leaf. Her DNA evidence shows that Y. elata and Y. verdiensis are sister taxa, while Y. utahensis is not. Although there is a great range of variation within Y. elata as circumscribed here, the two varieties recognized are difficult to distinguish.

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

Yucca elata var. elata is quite variable according to both S. D. McKelvey (1938–1947) and J. M. Webber (1953). The plants are arborescent with peduncles and inflorescences shorter than to as long as the stems, and are found from west Texas through southern New Mexico and southeastern and central Arizona. Hybrids between Y. elata and Y. glauca, Y. constricta, and Y. baileyi are thought to occur in areas of sympatry (J. M. Webber 1953).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Capsules 5–8.2 cm; pistil 2.8–3.2 cm; leaf blade 30–95 cm.
var. elata
1. Capsules 4–4.5 cm; pistil 2–2.5 cm; leaf blade 25–45 cm.
var. verdiensis
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 432. FNA vol. 26, p. 432.
Parent taxa Agavaceae > Yucca Agavaceae > Yucca > Yucca elata
Sibling taxa
Y. aloifolia, Y. angustissima, Y. arkansana, Y. baccata, Y. baileyi, Y. brevifolia, Y. campestris, Y. constricta, 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. elata var. verdiensis
Subordinate taxa
Y. elata var. elata, Y. elata var. verdiensis
Synonyms Y. angustifolia var. elata, Y. angustifolia var. radiosa, Y. radiosa
Name authority Engelmann: Bot. Gaz. 7: 17. (1882) unknown
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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