Yucca baccata

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Datil yucca, Banana yucca
Yucca baccata at Red Rock Canyon
Yucca baccata at Red Rock Canyon
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Agavaceae
Genus: Yucca
Section: Yucca
Series: Baccatae
Species: Y. baccata
Binomial name
Yucca baccata
Torr. in Emory

The Datil yucca, Banana yucca (Yucca baccata) is a common type of yucca native to the Mojave Desert of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, from southeastern California north to Utah, east to western Texas and south to Sonora and Chihuahua. It gets its name from its banana-shaped fruit.

Yucca baccata flowers
Yucca baccata flowers

Banana yucca is closely related to the Mojave yucca (Y. schidigera), with which it is interspersed where their ranges overlap; hybrids between them occur. Y. baccata is recognized by having leaves 30-100 cm long with more of a blue-green color, and by having short or nonexistent trunks. It flowers in the spring, starting in April to July depending on locality (altitude) and the flowers range from 5-13 cm long, white to cream in color with purple shades. The flower stalk is not especially tall, typically 1-1.5 meters. The seeds are rough, black, surface strured, wingless, 3-8 mm long and wide, 1-2 mm thick, ripen in 6-8 weeks. The indehiscent fleshy fruit is sweet, large 8-18 cm long to 6 cm across, cylindrical.

The Paiutes dried the fruits for use during the winter.

[edit] Subspecies

Yucca baccata has been divided into three subspecies:

  • Yucca baccata ssp. baccata—Datil Yucca, Banana Yucca
  • Yucca baccata ssp. thornberi (McKelvey) Hochstätter—Thornber's Yucca
  • Yucca baccata ssp. vespertina (McKelvey) Hochstätter—Mohave Datil Yucca

[edit] Distribution

Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran, Chihuahuan Desert, Utah,California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Chihuahua state in Mexico. Among Pinyon-Juniper, Sagebrush, Mountainbrush and Pondorosa pine colonies at altitude of 1,500-2,500 m. Associated with Yucca schidgera, Yucca torreyi, Yucca brevifolia, Yucca arizonica, Yucca faxoniana, Agave utahensis and other Agave sp. Different Sclerocactus, Pediocactus, Navajoa, Toumeya species. Yucca baccata occurs a huge area of the USA deserts and exhibits much variation across its range. Yucca baccata from the higher, mountainous regions of the Rocky Mountains is winterhardy and tolerates extremes conditions.

[edit] References