''Yucca schidigera'', also known as the Mojave yucca or Spanish dagger, is a perennial plant in the asparagus family

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae (), known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, '' Asparagus officinalis''. This family includes both ...

, native to the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

and northwestern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is most common in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

, but also occurs extensively in the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...

and west to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

coast of

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

and

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

Description

''Yucca schidigera'' is a small

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

growing to tall, with a dense crown of spirally arranged bayonet-like

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

on top of a conspicuous basal trunk. The

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

is gray-brown, being covered with brown dead leaves near the top, becoming irregularly rough and scaly-to-ridged closer to the ground. The leaves are long and broad at the base, concavo-convex, thick, very rigid, and yellow-green to blue-green in color. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are white, sometimes with a purple tinge, long (rarely to 7.5 cm), bell-shaped and segmented into six parts; they are produced in a compact, bulbous cluster tall at the top of the stem. The fruit is an elongate berry, up to long.

Distribution and habitat

''Yucca schidigera'' is native to

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. It is found in the southernmost part of Nevada, in Washington County in Utah, and the northwestern part of Arizona. It is most common in the

, but is also widespread in the

and west to the Pacific coast of

and into

. ''Y. schidigera'' reaches its southernmost extent in the

Baja California desert The Baja California desert () is a desert ecoregion of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. This ecoregion occupies the western portion of the Baja California peninsula, and occupies most of the Mexican states of Baja California Sur and Baja Cali ...

. In the coastal part of its range, ''Y. schidigera'' usually associates with ''

Adenostoma fasciculatum ''Adenostoma fasciculatum'', commonly known as chamise or greasewood, is a flowering plant native to California and Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the California chaparral ecoregion. Chamise produces a specia ...

'' (chamise). This yucca typically grows on rocky desert slopes and

creosote Creosote is a category of carbonaceous chemicals formed by the distillation of various tars and pyrolysis of plant-derived material, such as wood, or fossil fuel. They are typically used as preservatives or antiseptics. Some creosote types w ...

desert flats between altitude, rarely up to . They thrive in full sun and in

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

with excellent drainage. It also needs no summer water. It is related to the banana yucca (''Y. baccata''), which occurs in the same general area; hybrids between the two are sometimes found.

Fire ecology

Post fire, the Mojave yucca produces sprouts eagerly and the regeneration of the

seedling A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embry ...

s are witnessed. The

fire regime A fire regime is the pattern, frequency, and intensity of the bushfires and wildfires that prevail in an area over long periods of time. It is an integral part of fire ecology, and renewal for certain types of ecosystems. A fire regime describes th ...

is defined predominantly by heavy crop vegetation that take part in carrying the fire in the

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

. Over time, the invasive species that have been introduced to the ecosystem, such as grasses, have turned more fire tolerant, increasing the fire frequency and altering the fire regime that existed in the past. Early accounts describe the flora of the Mojave Desert as arid

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

and

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

communities. This ecosystem depended on winter precipitation. ''Y. schidigera'' was tolerant of this fire regime and rarely harmed. However, the introduction of nonnative grasses led to a higher frequency of fire, which decreased the survival rate of ''Y. schidigera''.

Uses

Moths gather pollen from the flowers and deposit it on the stigma of a flower, the ovary of which they lay their eggs in; the larvae eat of the

fruit capsule In botany, a capsule is a type of simple, dry, though rarely fleshy dehiscent fruit produced by many species of angiosperms (flowering plants). Origins and structure The capsule (Latin: ''capsula'', small box) is derived from a compound (mult ...

as it grows, but leave behind some seeds to develop into fruit. The fibers of the ''Yucca schidigera'' leaves are used by Native Americans to make rope, cloth, thread, and sandals. The flowers and fruit are eaten either raw or roasted, and the black seeds were ground into a

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

. The roots are used to make

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

. Some reports claim that Native Americans wash their hair with yucca to fight

dandruff Dandruff is a skin condition of the scalp. Symptoms include flaking and sometimes mild itchiness. It can result in social or self-esteem problems. A more severe form of the condition, which includes inflammation of the skin, is known as s ...

and

hair loss Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from part of the head or body. Typically at least the head is involved. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body. Inflammation or scarring ...

. Among the other maladies this yucca has been used to treat are headaches, bleeding,

gonorrhea Gonorrhoea or gonorrhea, colloquially known as the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae''. Infection may involve the genitals, mouth, or rectum. Gonorrhea is spread through sexual c ...

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

and

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...

. Currently, extracts from this plant are in animal feed and various

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

al medications. The rigid flower stalk of the yucca, after maturation, is used as a substitute for eucalyptus stems or logs to make

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...

s. It is also used as a natural

deodorizer Air fresheners are products designed to reduce unwanted odors in indoor spaces, to introduce pleasant fragrances, or both. They typically emit fragrance to mask odors but may use other methods of action such as absorbing, bonding to, or chemically ...

, and is used in pet deodorizers. Steroid

saponins Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are Organic compound, organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high Molar mass, molecul ...

are produced commercially from ''Y. schidigera'' that can be used as naturally derived food-grade surfactant. ''Y. schidigera'' is an ingredient that is found in a quarter of

dog food Dog food is specifically formulated food intended for consumption by dogs and other related canines. Dogs are considered to be omnivores with a carnivorous bias. They have the sharp, pointed teeth and shorter gastrointestinal tracts of carn ...

sold. It is mainly included in their food to reduce the

waste Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor Value (economics), economic value. A wast ...

odor of most pets. Researchers have also found that the ingestion of ''Y. schidigera'' have decreased the

blood cholesterol Blood lipids (or blood fats) are lipids in the blood, either free or bound to other molecules. They are mostly transported in a phospholipid capsule, and the type of protein embedded in this outer shell determines the fate of the particle and its ...

of human and chickens, increased vitamin and mineral absorption in animals, and increased cattle reproduction. In fish, ''Yucca schidigera'' extract is beneficial. It can improve the growth rate in fish as a result of increased protein metabolism, requiring less food to sustain populations of fish. Outside of boosted growth rates, ''Yucca schidigera'' can also be used to improve the health of fish as it reduces ammonia that may be present in the water, generally improving the water quality. Evidence also suggests that ''Yucca schidigera'' is a suitable substitute in enabling fish to fight off the many diseases that characterize aquaculture.

References

* Fritz Hochstätter (ed.): '' Yucca (Agavaceae). Band 1 Dehiscent-fruited species in the Southwest and Midwest of the USA, Canada and Baja California '', Selbst Verlag, 2000. * Fritz Hochstätter (ed.): '' Yucca (Agavaceae). Band 2 Indehiscent-fruited species in the Southwest, Midwest and East of the USA'', Selbst Verlag. 2002. * Fritz Hochstätter (ed.): '' Yucca (Agavaceae). Band 3 Mexico '', Selbst Verlag, 2004. * *

External links

Flora of North America: ''Yucca schidigera''Jepson Flora Project: ''Yucca schidigera''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yucca Schidigera schidigera Flora of Baja California Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Flora of the California desert regions Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Mojave Desert Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Plants described in 1871 Fiber plants Plants used in traditional Native American medicine