''Hesperoyucca whipplei'' (
syn. ''Yucca whipplei''), the chaparral yucca,
our Lord's candle,
[ Spanish bayonet,] Quixote yucca[ or foothill yucca,] is a species of flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
closely related to, and formerly usually included in, the genus ''Yucca
''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial plant, perennial shrubs and trees in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their Rosette (botany), rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped Leaf, ...
''. It is native to southwest communities of North America.
Description
It produces a stemless cluster of long, rigid leaves which end in a sharp point. The leaves are , rarely to , long and wide, and gray-green in color. The leaf edges are finely saw-toothed.
The single inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
grows extremely fast, and reaches tall, bearing hundreds of elliptical (bell-shaped) white to purplish flowers in diameter on a densely branched panicle up to broad, covering the upper half of the inflorescence. The fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
is a dry winged capsule, which splits open at maturity to release the seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
s.
The plant takes several (usually 5+) years to reach maturity and flower, doing so in April–May, at which point it usually dies. Most subspecies produce offshoots from the base, so that although the parent plant flowers and dies, a cluster of clones around its base continue to grow and reproduce. It may also grow back from its base after much of its foliage has been scorched off by the wildfires that frequent its range.
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of ''H. whipplei'' is complex and controversial. ''Hesperoyucca
''Hesperoyucca'' is a small genus of two recognized species of flowering plants closely related to, and recently split from, ''Yucca'', which is in the century plant subfamily within the asparagus family.
Description
''Hesperoyucca'' is distin ...
'' was described as a genus by George Engelmann as long ago as 1892, but it has taken recent DNA analysis to confirm that they are genetically distinct from ''Yucca
''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial plant, perennial shrubs and trees in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their Rosette (botany), rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped Leaf, ...
''.
Among those botanists who have treated (or still treat) it as a species of ''Yucca'', six subspecies have been recognised; others have regarded them as varieties
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
.
Hochstätter's subspecies are:
* ''Yucca whipplei'' ssp. ''whipplei''
* ''Yucca whipplei'' ssp. ''caespitosa''
* ''Yucca whipplei'' ssp. ''intermedia''
* ''Yucca whipplei'' ssp. ''percursa''
* ''Yucca whipplei'' ssp. ''newberryi''
* ''Yucca whipplei'' ssp. ''eremica''
The plant treated as the subspecies ''Y. whipplei'' subsp. ''newberryi'' has been shown to be genetically distinct, and is often treated as a distinct species, ''Hesperoyucca newberryi
''Hesperoyucca newberryi'', commonly known as the Grand Canyon Quixote plant or Newberry's yucca, is a plant species endemic to Arizona. It is found only in Mohave and Coconino Counties, on the walls of canyons near the Colorado River.
''Hespe ...
''. It is native further east, in Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, and differs in the capsules being unwinged or with only slight wings.
Etymology
*"Yuca" is a native name for the unrelated Manihot
''Manihot'' is a genus in the diverse milkspurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It was described as a genus in 1754.Miller, Philip. 1754. Gardeners Dictionary...Abridged...fourth edition vol. 2
Species of ''Manihot'' are monoecious . . trees, shrubs an ...
.
*''Yucca whipplei'' is named after Amiel Weeks Whipple
Amiel Weeks Whipple (October 21, 1817 – May 7, 1863)Anderson, TSHA was an American military officer and topographical engineer. He served as a brigadier general in the American Civil War, where he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chance ...
(1818–1863), a surveyor who oversaw the Pacific Railroad
The Pacific Railroad (not to be confused with Union Pacific Railroad) was a railroad based in Missouri. It was a predecessor of both the Missouri Pacific Railroad and St. Louis-San Francisco Railway.
The Pacific was chartered by Missouri in 1849 ...
Survey to Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
in 1853.
*The name our Lord's candle is derived from its huge, flame-shaped inflorescence.
*Spanish bayonet refers to the needle-sharp leaf tips which can cause discomfort to the unwary passer-by.
Distribution
It is native to southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
in Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, where it occurs mainly in chaparral, coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...
, and oak woodland
An oak woodland is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak woodlands are intermediate between oak savanna, which is more open, and oak forest, which is more closed. Although the ...
plant communities at altitudes of 0–.
Ecology
It is pollinated by the California yucca moth
The Prodoxidae are a family of moths, generally small in size and nondescript in appearance. They include species of moderate pest status, such as the currant shoot borer, and others of considerable ecological and evolutionary interest, such as ...
(''Tegeticula maculata
''Tegeticula maculata'' is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in North America in central-southern cismontane California, in the Sierra Nevada north to Fresno County, in north-western Arizona, and from Baja California Norte to the Vi ...
''), a relationship which has become a classic example of symbiosis. The female yucca moth collects up to a dozen sacks of pollen grains called pollinia A pollinium (plural pollinia) is a coherent mass of pollen grains in a plant that are the product of only one anther, but are transferred, during pollination, as a single unit. This is regularly seen in plants such as orchids and many species of mil ...
and forms them into a massive ball. She then flies to another plant and lands on the ovary of a flower. Standing with her head near the stigma, she inserts her ovipositor into the ovary wall and lays a single egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
. She then rubs her pollen mass against the central stigmatic depression, ensuring pollination
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, a ...
. The pollinated ovary will now produce many seeds, ensuring an ample food supply for the larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
...
. Although many associations of ''Yucca'' and yucca moth exist, ''Tegeticula muculata'' and ''Hesperoyucca whipplei'' form an exclusive relationship.
Uses
''Hesperoyucca whipplei'' is used in xeriscaping
Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained acceptance in other ...
in Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
, but reportedly is difficult to grow outside of its native range (although it is widely available from specialist nurseries in the United Kingdom). It is extremely drought tolerant and thrives in clay soils.
It has been used extensively by Native Americans. Yucca species such as ''Y. whipplei'' have been documented to have been used as a fiber and food source by Native Americans in the Southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
cultural region, prior to European settlement. Archaeological evidence shows that use of yucca species extends to approximately 5,000 years ago within groups such as the Serrano of the San Bernardino Mountains and San Gabriel Mountains of the transverse mountain ranges of Southern California. The Serrano harvested the hearts of the plant during the spring growing season. ''Yucca whipplei'' grows on the rocky slopes and washes of the chaparral area of the transverse mountains of Southern California up to approximately above mean sea level. Harvested plants were chosen based on the growth of the stalk; the hearts were the preferred portion of the plant, and would be harvested before the stalk was fully developed. The heart contains the sugars stored to rapidly grow a stalk to flower, and become bitter as the stalk grows in height. The hearts would then be roasted in stone lined pits (earth oven
An earth oven, ground oven or cooking pit is one of the simplest and most ancient cooking structures. At its most basic, an earth oven is a pit in the ground used to trap heat and bake, smoke, or steam food. Earth ovens have been used in many pl ...
) over several hours in a manner similar to that of agave
''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...
species. Once cooked, the hearts would be removed and allowed to cool before eating. Uneaten portions could be dried for storage. Though slightly bitter, the stalk and flowers can be harvested and used as food sources as well. The stalks can be prepared roasted in a manner similar to the hearts, while the petals were often parboiled.
The long leaves of species such as the ''Y. whipplei'' are made of strong fibers which can be pounded and scraped to expose long threads which run the length of the leaf. The leaves could be processed in many ways to remove the outer layer of leaf material which could be processed into threads and cords, used for basketry, blankets, and sandals. Green leaves can be heated over coals or directly on flames to heat the leaves. Cooking the leaves removes some of the saponins
Saponins (Latin "sapon", soap + "-in", one of), also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed ...
and allows for easier scraping. Ethnographic
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...
accounts dating to 1938 describes the preparation of leaves for fibers as any one of the following: boiling or pit roasting of live leaves to be scraped clean or the pounding or soaking of dry leaves expose fibers. Shells or stone scrapers were often employed to remove outer leaf material from the fibers. Once exposed, these fibers were often soaked in water to soften fiber. The fibers could then be twisted into cordage, used as materials in a basket, or woven into sandals.
Other groups made use of different varieties of yucca species found throughout the American Southwest. Archaeological evidence shows use of ''Yucca shidigera'' (Mojave yucca) near the area of the Mexico–United States border
The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border trave ...
dating as early as 5,000 years ago. Residues of yucca were found on some stone tools in a cave site in Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
indicate that yucca was used to secure stone tools to other materials. Ethnographic evidence of the Mogollon has shown the use of the leaves with green leaf matter intact and woven into sandals. The green leaves are fire heated and no scraping or further processing occurs to remove fibers, though the spine is removed from the tip. The whole green leaves are then tightly woven to shape the bed of the sandal, and secured to the foot with cordage ties.
Gallery
File:LA Natl Forrest3.JPG, In Angeles National Forest
The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabriel Mounta ...
File:Yucca in Bloom at Big Tujunga Canyon in Sunland.JPG, In full bloom
File:Yucca whipplei stalk 1.jpg, Dried flower stalk with seedpods
File:Yucca whipplei.jpg, Foliage rosette
File:H Whipplei Fruit 1.JPG, Fruit
File:Yucca whipplei seedpod.jpg, Dried and opened seedpod
References
External links
Jepson eFlora (TJM2): ''Hesperoyucca whipplei''
''Hesperoyucca whipplei'' — UC Photos gallery
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q19848612, from2=Q290767
Agavoideae
Flora of California
Flora of Baja California
Flora of the California desert regions
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of the Mojave Desert
Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges
Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains
Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
Plants described in 1893
Garden plants of North America
Drought-tolerant plants
Flora without expected TNC conservation status