''Yucca declinata'' is a species 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 ...

'', 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''. Those who live in the temperate c ...

. It is known only from the vicinity of

Bacanora :''Other uses: the town of Bacanora, Sonora.'' Bacanora is an agave-derived liquor made in the Mexican state of Sonora. The distillation of Bacanora was illegal until 1992, being moonshine, bootlegged by ''vinateros'' for many generations. Since ...

, in the Mexican state of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

. Botanist

Howard Scott Gentry Howard Scott Gentry (December 10, 1903 – April 1, 1993) was an American botanist recognized as the world's leading authority on the agaves. Gentry was born in Temecula, California. In 1931 he received an A.B. (bachelor's) degree in vertebrate z ...

Gentry, H. S. 1972. The Agave family in Sonora. USDA Agricultural Handbook 399 first collected the species and mentioned it in print, noting the differences between this population and the closely related species '' Y. grandiflora'' H. S. Gentry and ''Y. arizonica'' McKelvey (sic, = ''

Yucca baccata ''Yucca baccata'' (datil yucca or banana yucca, also known as Spanish bayonet and broadleaf yucca) is a common species of yucca native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, from southeastern California north to ...

'' var. ''brevifolia'' L. D. Benson & R. A. Darrow). He did not, however, describe it as a new species. Later examination of his descriptions and his material led to the recognition of this as a new species. The epithet ''declinata'' refers to the fact that this is the only known species of ''Yucca'' in which the flowering stalk is oriented horizontally. The plant is tree-like up to 6 m tall, branching in the crown and suckering at the base. Leaves are up to 140 cm long, yellowish-green, without teeth. Flowering stalk is up to 130 cm m long, glabrous, usually perpendicular to the main stem. Flowers small, white. Fruit oblong, tapering at base, 15–20 cm long, not splitting apart when ripe. Seeds black, flat, slightly egg-shaped, 1.0-1.5 cm in diameter. The species occurs in open woodlands and scrublands on volcanic and limestone soils.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2601616 declinata Flora of Sonora Endemic flora of Mexico Plants described in 1995