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Vascular Plants of California
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Yucca baccata var. baccata
BANANA YUCCA, BLUE YUCCA


Higher Taxonomy
Family: AgavaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: CENTURY PLANT FAMILY
Habit: Perennial herb, shrub, tree, fibrous succulent or not, from bulbs or rhizomes. Stem: above ground or not, branched or not. Leaf: simple, deciduous or not, basal or in terminal rosettes, generally sessile, linear, lanceolate, oblanceolate or ovate, fibrous or not, thin and flexible or thick and rigid or succulent; margin entire, fine-serrate, dentate, or with filaments, tips rigid or flexible, with a spine or not. Flower: bisexual; perianth parts 6, in 2 petal-like whorls, free or +- fused; stamens 6, +- fused to perianth, filaments often wide, succulent; ovary superior or inferior, chambers 3, style 1 (thick, poorly defined), stigma head-like or 3-lobed. Fruit: capsule, indehiscent, loculicidal, or septicidal. Seed: few to many, +- flat or ovoid, generally black.
Genera In Family: 24 genera, 637 species: worldwide.
eFlora Treatment Author: Dale W. McNeal, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Dale W. McNeal, Thomas J. Rosatti, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Genus: YuccaView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: SPANISH BAYONET, YUCCA
Habit: Shrub- or tree-like, generally branched from woody caudex, occasionally dying after fruiting. 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.
Etymology: (Haitian: yuca or manihot, because young inflorescences occasionally roasted for food) Note: Pollinated at night by small moths while laying eggs in ovary. Yucca whipplei moved to Hesperoyucca.
eFlora Treatment Author: William J. Hess & Bruce G. Baldwin
Unabridged Reference: Hess & Robbins 2002 FNANM 26: 423--439; Lenz 2007 Aliso 24:97--104; Smith et al. 2021 Amer J Bot 108:647--663
Yucca baccata Torr. var. baccata
NATIVE
Habit: Plant < 2.5 m. Stem: +- 0 or short-decumbent, branched or not, rosettes at tips, +- at ground. Leaf: 50--100 cm, 2--6 cm wide, glaucous, +- dark green, expanded base +- 10 cm, 5 cm wide, +- red, margins fibrous-shredding. Inflorescence: 6--8 dm, purple-tinged, within to distal +- 1/4 exserted from rosettes, generally glabrous. Flower: pendent; perianth 5--13 cm, bell-shaped, parts lanceolate, fused > 1 mm, red-brown abaxially, +- white adaxially; pistil 5--8 cm. Fruit: berry-like, pendent in age, 15--17 cm, fleshy in youth.
Ecology: Uncommon. Dry Joshua-tree woodland; Elevation: 800--1800 m. Bioregional Distribution: e DMoj; Distribution Outside California: to Colorado, Texas, Mexico. Flowering Time: May--Jun Note: Reported to hybridize with Yucca schidigera. A 2nd variety in Arizona, New Mexico, Mexico.
Jepson eFlora Author: William J. Hess & Bruce G. Baldwin
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

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Jepson Video for Yucca baccata var. baccata

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Botanical illustration including Yucca baccata var. baccata

botanical illustration including Yucca baccata var. baccata

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Citation for this treatment: William J. Hess & Bruce G. Baldwin 2022, Yucca baccata var. baccata, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, Revision 10, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=67839, accessed on April 25, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 25, 2024.

Yucca baccata  
var. baccata
click for enlargement
©2004 James M. Andre
Yucca baccata  
var. baccata
click for enlargement
©2004 James M. Andre

More photos of Yucca baccata var. baccata
in CalPhotos



Geographic subdivisions for Yucca baccata var. baccata:
e DMoj
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map of distribution 1
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).





 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.
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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).