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Yucca schidigera

MOJAVE 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 schidigera Roezl ex Ortgies
NATIVE
Habit: Plant 1--5 m. Stem: erect, not or few-branched, rosettes at tips, well above ground. Leaf: 30--150 cm, 3--5 cm wide, rigid, concave, +- yellow or blue-green, expanded base 2--8 cm, 4--11 cm wide, +- white, margins fibrous-shredding. Inflorescence: 6--12 dm, within to +- exserted from rosettes. Flower: pendent; perianth 3--5 cm, narrowed at base, parts lanceolate to wide-lanceolate, free or fused < 1 mm, white or cream; pistil 2--3 cm. Fruit: berry-like, +- pendent, 5--11.5 cm, 3--4 cm wide, cylindric.
Ecology: Chaparral, creosote-bush scrub; Elevation: < 2500 m. Bioregional Distribution: SW (exc ChI, WTR & SnGb), s DMoj, nw DSon; Distribution Outside California: Nevada, Arizona, northern Baja California. Flowering Time: Apr--May
Unabridged Synonyms: Yucca californica Nutt. ex Baker; Yucca mohavensis Sarg.
Jepson eFlora Author: William J. Hess & Bruce G. Baldwin
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Yucca jaegeriana
Next taxon: Alismataceae

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Botanical illustration including Yucca schidigerabotanical illustration including Yucca schidigera


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Citation for this treatment: William J. Hess & Bruce G. Baldwin 2022, Yucca schidigera, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, Revision 10, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=48796, accessed on December 03, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 03, 2024.

Yucca schidigera
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©2009 California Academy of Sciences
Yucca schidigera
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©2019 Christopher L. Christie
Yucca schidigera
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©2006 Steve Matson
Yucca schidigera
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©2013 Keir Morse
Yucca schidigera
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©2009 Keir Morse

More photos of Yucca schidigera
in CalPhotos



Geographic subdivisions for Yucca schidigera:
SW (exc ChI, WTR & SnGb), s DMoj, nw DSon
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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 occurrence).






 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.

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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
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.
Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues.
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CCH collections by month Flowering-Fruiting Monthly Counts

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).