Our Lord's Candle (Yucca whipplei)

5/13/00 Devil's Punchbowl Natural Area, San Gabriel Mountains, 
Los Angeles County, CA

5/19/01 Gabrielino Trail, JPL to Oakwilde, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County, CA

3/4/07 Tenaja Trail, Cleveland National Forest, Riverside County, CA

3/14/19 Temescal Wash south of Corona Lake, Riverside County, CA 

3/14/19 Temescal Wash south of Corona Lake, Riverside County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Our Lord's Candle, Chaparral Yucca

SPECIES: Yucca whipplei

FAMILY: Agavaceae (Century Plant Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 5/13/2000

LOCATION: Devil's Punchbowl Natural Area, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County, CA

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Perennial; bulb 4–6 cm, ovoid, deep

Plant dies after fruit

Stems ± 0 aboveground; rosettes 1–many, very dense

Leaf generally 40–100 cm, flat or ± 3-angled, ± gray-green; expanded base ± 4–7 cm, 4–7 cm wide, ± white to greenish; margins minutely serrate

Inflorescence 2–40 dm, not appearing heavy; peduncle 15–35 dm; branches and flowers very many

Flower: perianth ± 3 cm, ± spheric, white, generally purple-tipped; filaments linear below, tip angled, club-like; pistil 1–2 cm, stigmas domed, clear-papillate

Fruit spreading to erect

Ecology: Chaparral, coastal or desert scrub

Elevation: < 2500 m.  

Bioregional distribution: s Sierra Nevada (especially e slope), s South Coast Ranges, Southwestern California, sw edge Mojave Desert  

Distribution outside California: n Baja California

Flowering time: Apr–May

Growth form highly variable; branched plants from desert edge have been called subsp. cespitosa (M.E. Jones) A.L. Haines; late-branching coastal plants have been called subsp. intermedia A.L. Haines; large, unbranched plants from s slope SnGb and SnBr have been called subsp. parishii (M.E. Jones) A.L. Haines; rhizomed colonial plants from s SCoR have been called subsp. percursa A.L. Haines

Recent taxonomic note: Warrants treatment in segregate genus Hesperoyucca Trel. as H. whipplei (Torr.) Tree.

Horticultural information: DRN, SUN, DRY: 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.