''Yucca faxoniana'' is a bladed

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

of the genus ''

Yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flo ...

''. It is known by the common names Faxon yucca, Spanish dagger, and giant dagger.

Description

The plant generally is a multitrunked shrub in height. They can be single trunked and tree-like to tall. The bladed leaves range from in length. The flowers, ivory to creamy white and bell shaped, are on a flower head up to long. Flowers, pollinated by moths of the genus ''

Tegeticula ''Tegeticula'' is a genus of moths of the family Prodoxidae, one of three genera known as yucca moths; they are mutualistic pollinators of various ''Yucca'' and ''Hesperoyucca'' species. Species * '' Tegeticula altiplanella'' * '' Tegeticula ant ...

'', bloom typically in April. The plant produces sweet, pulpy, oblong fruits.

Taxonomy

The species has been called ''Yucca torreyi'' – a name given in 1908 by

John Shafer John Shafer is a former American college athletics administrator. He served as athletic director at the University of Mississippi from 1998 to 2002, at Eastern Kentucky University from 2003 to 2004, and at Southeast Missouri State University from ...

. The epithet commemorates

John Torrey John Torrey (August 15, 1796 – March 10, 1873) was an American botany, botanist, chemist, and physician. Throughout much of his career, he was a teacher of chemistry, often at multiple universities, while he also pursued botanical work, focus ...

, a 19th-century American botanist who designated this as a new variety in 1859.NPIN — Johnson
Accessed September 15, 2012 ''Y. torreyi'' is now regarded as an illegitimate name; however sources differ as to the correct name, using either ''Yucca treculeana'' Carrière or ''Y. faxoniana''.

Distribution

''Yucca faxoniana'' is native to the

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower P ...

region of northern

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 ...

, southern

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, and southwestern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Its range is centered around

Big Bend National Park Big Bend National Park is an American national park located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States, and was named after ...

in the central

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

valley in the Chihuahuan Desert. It is found mainly in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

, but also minor locales of

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

and

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

. It does not occur in the upper Rio Grande Basin section in central New Mexico, nor the lower third of the Rio Grande Valley towards the Gulf of Mexico.

Uses

Native Americans used the fruit as a food source—raw, roasted, or dried and ground into meal. They also used the plant leaves as a fiber in basketry, cloth, mats, ropes, and sandals. The roots were used as a red pattern element in

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

baskets.University of Michigan - Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany — ''Yucca torreyi''
Accessed 9.15.2012

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile: ''Yucca torreyi''

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: ''Yucca torreyi''.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q145189 faxoniana Flora of the Chihuahuan Desert Flora of Northeastern Mexico Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Texas Flora of Chihuahua (state) Flora of Durango Flora of Nuevo León Flora of New Mexico Flora of the Mexican Plateau Plants described in 1859