Yucca faxoniana
| Spanish dagger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Blooming, in Chihuahuan Desert habitat. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Subfamily: | Agavoideae |
| Genus: | Yucca |
| Species: | Y. faxoniana |
| Binomial name | |
| Yucca faxoniana Sarg.[1] | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Yucca faxoniana is a bladed evergreen shrub of the genus Yucca. It is known by the common names Faxon yucca[3] and Spanish dagger.[3]
Taxonomy
A similar species has been called Yucca torreyi – a name given in 1908 by John Shafer.[1] The epithet commemorates John Torrey, a 19th-century American botanist who designated this as a new variety in 1859.[4] Y. torreyi is now regarded as an illegitimate name; however sources differ as to the correct name, using either Yucca treculeana Carrière[5] or Y. faxoniana.[1]
Distribution
Yucca faxoniana is native to the Chihuahuan Desert region of northern Mexico, southern New Mexico, and southwestern Texas. Its range is centered around Big Bend National Park in the central Rio Grande valley in the Chihuahuan Desert. It is found mainly in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahuila, but also minor locales of Durango and Nuevo León. 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.[3]
Description
The plant generally is a multitrunked shrub 3–10 feet (0.91–3.05 m) in height. They can be single trunked and tree-like to 20 feet (6.1 m) tall. The bladed leaves range from 2 to 4.5 feet (0.6 to 1.4 m) in length. The flowers, ivory to creamy white and bell shaped, are on a flower head up to 2 feet (0.6 m) long.[4]
Uses
Yucca torreyi fruit was used by the Apache people as a food source, raw and prepared in various ways. 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 baskets.[4][6]
References
- 1 2 3 "Yucca faxoniana". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ↑ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- 1 2 3 GRIN. "Yucca faxoniana information from NPGS/GRIN". Taxonomy for Plants. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland: USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program.
- 1 2 3 NPIN — Johnson. Accessed September 15, 2012
- ↑ Flora of North America Editorial Committee, ed. (1982 onwards), "Yucca treculeana", Flora of North America, Oxford University Press Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ University of Michigan - Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany — Yucca torreyi . accessed 9.15.2012
- Little. Atlas of United States Trees, Volume 3, Minor Western Hardwoods, Little, Elbert L, 1976, US Government Printing Office. Library of Congress No. 79-653298. Map 209, Yucca torreyi.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yucca torreyi (Yucca faxoniana). |