Flora of North America species comparison

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Yucca faxoniana

Yucca necopina

Eve's needle, Faxon yucca, Spanish bayonet, Spanish dagger

Brazos River yucca
Habit Plants solitary, erect, arborescent, 2.5–6.9 m, including inflorescence. Plants cespitose, forming small colonies of rosettes, acaulescent or caulescent; rosettes usually small, each with ca. 50–85 leaves.
Stems

1, simple or with 2–4 branches, to 5.1 m, average diam. 32 cm.

erect, to 0.4 m. Leaf blade erect, proximal becoming reflexed, slightly twisted, plano-convex, widest near middle, 50–80 × (1.5–)2–4 cm, rigid, margins entire, filiferous, white, apex acicular.
Leaf

blade erect, yellowish green, 43–115 × 3.1–8.4 cm, rigid, smooth, glabrous, margins conspicuous, curling, filiferous, brown.

Inflorescences

erect, paniculate, often with proximal branches arising beyond rosettes, broadly ovoid, 5.5–25.5 dm, glabrous;

peduncle 0.3–0.6 m. Flowers pendent, 4.4–12.4 cm;

perianth campanulate;

tepals connate basally into floral cup 1–32 mm, white to greenish white, ovate, 3.9–10.8 cm;

filaments averaging 2.2 cm from base of tepals, glabrous;

anthers 1–6 mm;

pistil 2.8–8 × 0.7 cm;

ovary ca. 4.5–5 times longer than wide;

style 4.5 mm;

stigmas distinct.

paniculate, racemose distally or entirely, beginning mostly beyond rosettes, ovoid, 50–120 cm, glabrous;

proximal branches to 15 cm;

bracts erect, distal reduced;

peduncle 0.8–1.6 m, less than 2.5 cm diam.
Flowers

pendent;

perianth globose;

tepals greenish white, 4–4.5  1.5–3 cm;

filaments 12–15 mm, shorter than pistil;

pistil 1.5–3.8 cm;

stigmas lobed.
Fruits

pendent, baccate, indehiscent, elongate, 3.6–13.6 × 1.8–3.6 cm, fleshy, succulent.

erect, capsular, dehiscent, not conspicuously constricted, dehiscence septicidal.
Seeds

black, 7.7 mm diam., 2.9 mm thick, smooth.

Yucca faxoniana

Yucca necopina
Phenology Flowering late winter–spring. Flowering spring.
Habitat Rocky slopes, flat plains River terraces, deep sand
Elevation 800–2100 m (2600–6900 ft) 200–300 m (700–1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Trelease described the genus Samuela based on two species, Samuela faxoniana and S. carnerosana. K. H. Clary’s DNA study (1997) shows them to be closely related but genetically distinct.

Yucca faxoniana is often used for landscaping in arid and semiarid regions of Texas and New Mexico.

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

Yucca necopina was originally described based only on plants from a single locality in Somervell County. Shinners’ sketchy description compared it with Y. arkansana, and he suggested that it might be a hybrid between Y. pallida and Y. arkansana. More recently, G. M. Diggs et al. (1999) reported new locations of Y. necopina from Hood, Parker, and Tarrant counties, and noted that molecular evidence provided to them by K. H. Clary supports its separate recognition.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 427. FNA vol. 26, p. 438.
Parent taxa Agavaceae > Yucca Agavaceae > Yucca
Sibling taxa
Y. aloifolia, Y. angustissima, Y. arkansana, Y. baccata, Y. baileyi, Y. brevifolia, Y. campestris, Y. constricta, Y. elata, 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. gloriosa, Y. harrimaniae, Y. intermedia, Y. madrensis, Y. neomexicana, Y. pallida, Y. reverchonii, Y. rostrata, Y. rupicola, Y. schidigera, Y. tenuistyla, Y. thompsoniana, Y. treculeana, Y. utahensis
Synonyms Samuela faxoniana, Y. australis, Y. macrocarpa
Name authority Sargent: Man. Trees, 121. (1905) Shinners: Spring Fl. Dallas-Fort Worth, 91, 408. (1958)
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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