Yucca baccata
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Datil yucca, Banana yucca | ||||||||||||||||||
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Yucca baccata at Red Rock Canyon
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Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||||
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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.
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
- Fritz Hochstätter (Hrsg.): Yucca (Agavaceae). Band 1 Dehiscent-fruited species in the Southwest and Midwest of the USA, Canada and Baja California , Selbst Verlag, 2000. ISBN 3-00-005946-6
- Fritz Hochstätter (Hrsg.): Yucca (Agavaceae). Band 2 Indehiscent-fruited species in the Southwest, Midwest and East of the USA, Selbst Verlag. 2002. ISBN 3-00-009008-8
- Fritz Hochstätter (Hrsg.): Yucca (Agavaceae). Band 3 Mexico , Selbst Verlag, 2004. ISBN 3-00-013124-8
- Common names of yucca species
- Die Gattung Yucca Fritz Hochstätter
- Yucca I [1] Verbreitungskarte I Fritz Hochstätter
- Flora of North America: Yucca baccata RangeMap
- Jepson Flora Project: Yucca baccata