Yucca rostrata
Common name:
Big Bend Yucca
Beaked Yucca
Pronunciation:
YUK-uh ro-stray-tuh
Family:
Agavaceae, Liliaceae
Genus:
Type:
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon:
No
- Evergreen shrub to tree-like (arborescent), slow growing, with a stem to about 4 m long; this does not include the 20-30 cm flower cluster which sits atop. Leaves in rosettes of more than 100; they are smooth, linear and 25-60 cm long but less than 2 cm wide, bluish-green color with a thin yellow margin that appears smooth but has minute teeth. Inflorescences are large and bear many showy white, pendent flowers, each about 5 × 1.5 cm. Fruits erect, ovoid to ellipsoid, 4–7 × 2 cm.
- Full sun, needs good drainage and occasional to infrequent summer irrigation.
- Hardy to USDA Zone (5a) 6 Native range in the United States is restricted to western Texas, specifically Brewster County, which encompasses the Big Bend of the Rio Grand River, hence giving rise to one of its common names. The species is also found in northern Mexico in the states of Chihuahua and Coahuila. Y. fostrata It is closely related to Y. thompsoniana, which is perhaps just a northern variant of the species.
- Yucca rostrata is a popular landscape plant in the southwestern United States and reportedly is successfully grown outside from Texas west to California and north to Colorado.
- rostrata: beaked, apparently a reference to either the shape of the flower buds or the fruit.
- Denver Botanical Garden
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plant habit
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plant habit
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leaves
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plant habit, flowering
