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Key to families | Table of families and genera

This text currently parallels The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, Second Edition that is now available at the University of California Press.

Text appearing in blue on this page will not appear in the printed book; it will be displayed only on the Web. Specimen numbers are hyperlinked to records in the Consortium of California Herbaria data view where possible. Taxa are hyperlinked to entries in the Jepson Interchange via the "[Online Interchange]" link.

 

YUCCA SPANISH BAYONET, YUCCA

William J. Hess


Shrub- or tree-like, generally branched from woody caudex, occasionally dying after fruit.
Leaf: rosette basal or at branch tips, 2–15 dm, linear, thick, ± rigid, stout- spine-tipped, bases ± expanded, margins generally curved up, entire or dentate, often fibrous-shredding.
Inflorescence: panicle [ raceme], erect ( pendent), dense; peduncle generally < 2 cm wide; bracts generally ascending.
Flower: generally pendent, 3–13 cm; perianth parts 6 in 2 whorls, generally ± fused, ± white, fleshy, waxy; stamens 6, filaments ± thick, fleshy; ovary superior, 3(6)-chambered, generally green, style short, often thick, poorly defined, stigmas 3-lobed, white to pale green.
Fruit: berry-like or generally capsule, erect or pendent, tardily septicidal or generally indehiscent.
Seed: ± many in 2 rows per chamber, often flat, black.
± 40 species: e coastal plain, se, sc, & especially dry sw North America; n, c-w Mex, n C.Am. (Haitian: yuca or manihot, because young inflorescences occasionally roasted for food) Pollinated at night by small moths while laying eggs in ovary. Yucca whipplei moved to Hesperoyucca.
Unabridged references: [Hess & Robbins 2002 FNANM 26: 423–439]

Key to Yucca

1. Lf margins minute-serrate, not fibrous-shredding; leaf 15–35 cm; fruit dry, spongy, or leathery in youth, spreading to erect in age; s SNH (e slope), Teh, e SNE, DMoj ..... Y. brevifolia

1' Lf margins fibrous-shredding, not serrate; leaf 30–150 cm; fruit fleshy in youth, pendent in age; s SW, s DMoj, e DMtns, nw DSon

2. St ± 0 or short-decumbent, rosettes at tips, ± at ground; perianth parts 5–13 cm, fused > 1 mm; e DMtns ..... Y. baccata var. baccata

2' St erect, rosettes at tips, well above ground; perianth parts 3–5 cm, free or fused < 1 mm; s SW (San Diego Co.), s DMoj, nw DSon ..... Y. schidigera

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Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on [month, day, year].
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