Banana / Blue Yucca / Spanish Bayonet (Yucca baccata)

5/24/03 Roadside near campground at Mid Hills, Mojave National Preserve, San Bernardino County, CA

5/24/03 Mid Hills, Mojave National Preserve

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Banana Yucca / Blue Yucca / Spanish Bayonet

SPECIES: Yucca baccata 

FAMILY: Agavaceae (Century Plant Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 5/24/2003

LOCATION: Mid Hills, Mojave National Preserve (East Mojave), San Bernardino County, CA

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Stems ± 0 aboveground; rosettes ± open, solitary or in small clumps

Leaf 50–75 cm, ± dark green; expanded base ± 10 cm, 5 cm wide, reddish; margins strongly fibrous-shredding

Inflorescence 6–8 dm, heavy, purple-tinged; peduncle < 2 dm

Flower: perianth 5–13 cm, bell-shaped, reddish brown outside, ± white inside, segments lanceolate (outer narrower), fused below; pistil 5–8 cm

Fruit 15–17 cm, fleshy when young, eventually pendent

Ecology: Uncommon. Dry Joshua-tree woodland

Elevation: 800–1300 m.  

Bioregional distribution: eastern Desert Mountains 

Distribution outside California: to Utah, Texas

Flowering time: May–Jun

Synonyms: var. vespertina McKelvey 
Reported to hybridize with  Y. schidigera