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Don Quixote's lace, izote de chocha, palma pita, Spanish dagger, Trecul yucca

alpine yucca, Navajo yucca

Habit Plants often forming colonies of rosettes, arborescent, to 7 m; rosettes with leaves hanging at various angles, giving an overall ragged appearance. Plants solitary or cespitose, forming colonies 1.3–2 m diam., acaulescent, erect or semierect, up to 0.2 m; rosettes usually small, symmetrical.
Stems

1–8, occasionally 2–5-branched, 14–15 cm diam.

Leaf

blade erect, yellowish to bluish green, usually U- or V-shaped in cross section, thick, 36–128 × 1.6–7 cm, rigid, scabrous, margins entire, filiferous with straight, coarse fibers, light brown.

blade yellowish green, plano-convex or plano-keeled, occasionally falcate, widest near middle, 25–45(–50) × 0.6–0.9 cm, rigid, smooth adaxially and abaxially, margins entire, recurved, filiferous, whitish, apex spinose, spine acicular, to 3.2 mm.

Inflorescences

erect, paniculate, arising mostly within rosettes, variable in shape, usually ovoid, 18 dm, glabrous, rarely slightly pubescent;

peduncle scapelike, 0.3 m or longer.

racemose, arising within or just beyond rosettes, 2.5–4.5(–8.5) dm;

bracts erect, purplish;

peduncle scapelike, 0.1–0.2 m, less than 2.5 cm diam.

Flowers

pendent;

perianth globose;

tepals distinct, cream-colored, occasionally tinged with purple, ovate, 2.7–8.1 × 1–3.4 cm, apex rounded or acute;

filaments 1–2.7 cm, short-pubescent proximally;

anthers 1–6 mm;

pistil 1.5–3.5 × 0.5–1 cm;

ovary 1.3–3.3 cm;

style 2–8 mm;

stigmas distinct.

pendent;

perianth campanulate;

tepals distinct, ovate to obovate or elliptic, 5–6.5 × 1.5–3.2 cm;

filaments to 2 cm, finely pubescent;

pistil green, 2.5–3.2 × 0.8 cm;

style white, 7 mm;

stigmas lobed.

Fruits

pendent, baccate, indehiscent, 4.4–18.7 × 1.8–4.6 cm, fleshy, succulent.

erect, capsular, dehiscent, oblong-cylindric, not usually constricted, 5 × 2.5 cm, dehiscence septicidal.

Seeds

black, 5–14 mm diam., 1–5 mm thick.

dull black, thin, 6–10 mm.

Yucca treculeana

Yucca baileyi

Phenology Flowering mid winter–spring. Flowering spring.
Habitat Grassy or rocky slopes or mesas, brushland, chaparral Mountains, adjacent woodlands and grasslands
Elevation 0–1600 m (0–5200 ft) 1300–2500 m (4300–8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; TX; n Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Some populations of Yucca baileyi comprise compact colonies of semierect, branched plants instead of scattered, cespitose individuals. These populations were recognized as var. navajoa by J. M. Webber (1953), who noted that Y. baileyi possibly hybridizes with Y. glauca and Y. angustissima.

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 428. FNA vol. 26, p. 435.
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. 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. utahensis
Y. aloifolia, Y. angustissima, Y. arkansana, Y. baccata, 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
Synonyms Y. argospatha, Y. aspera, Y. baccata var. australis, Y. baccata var. macrocarpa, Y. canaliculata, Y. canaliculata var. pendula, Y. crassifila, Y. longifolia, Y. torreyi, Y. treculeana var. succulenta, Y. undulata Y. baileyi var. navajoa, Y. navajoa, Y. standleyi
Name authority Carrière: Rev. Hort., 580. (1858) Wooton & Standley: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 6: 114. (1913)
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