Yucca aloifolia

Spanish-bayonet
Yucca aloifolia, cultivated, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asparagaceae
Subfamily:	Agavoideae
Genus:	Yucca
Species:	Y. aloifolia
Binomial name
Yucca aloifolia L.
Synonyms
Dracaena lenneana Regel Sarcoyucca aloifolia (L.) Linding. Yucca aloifolia var. arcuata (Haw.) Trel. Yucca aloifolia f. arcuata (Haw.) Voss Yucca aloifolia var. conspicua (Haw.) Engelm. Yucca aloifolia f. conspicua (Haw.) Engelm. Yucca aloifolia f. crenulata (Haw.) Voss Yucca aloifolia var. draconis (L.) Engelm. Yucca aloifolia f. draconis (L.) Voss Yucca aloifolia var. flexifolia J.Bommer Yucca aloifolia var. gigantea Sprenger Yucca aloifolia var. marginata J.Bommer Yucca aloifolia var. menandi Trel. Yucca aloifolia var. purpurea Baker Yucca aloifolia var. quadricolor-variegata Carrière Yucca aloifolia var. roseomarginata Regel Yucca aloifolia var. serratifolia Sprenger Yucca aloifolia var. stenophylla J.Bommer Yucca aloifolia var. tenuifolia (Haw.) Trel. Yucca aloifolia f. tenuifolia (Haw.) Voss Yucca aloifolia f. tenuifolia (Haw.) Trel. Yucca aloifolia var. tricolor J.Bommer Yucca aloifolia var. variegata Naudin Yucca aloifolia var. versicolor Carrière Yucca aloifolia var. yucatana (Engelm) Trel. Yucca arcuata Haw. Yucca atkinsii Baker Yucca conspicua Haw. Yucca crenulata Haw. Yucca draconis L. Yucca haruckeriana Crantz Yucca parmentieri Carrière Yucca jacksonii E.J.Whalen Yucca purpurea Baker Yucca quadricolor Baker Yucca serrulata Haw. Yucca striata auct. Yucca tenuifolia Haw. Yucca tricolor Baker Yucca yucatana Engelm.

Yucca aloifolia is the type species for the genus Yucca. Common names include aloe yucca,dagger plant, and Spanish bayonet. It grows in sandy soils, especially on sand dunes along the coast. Yucca aloifolia is native to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States from southern Virginia south to Florida and west to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, to Mexico along the Yucatán coast, and to Bermuda, and parts of the Caribbean. Normally Yucca aloifolia is grown in USDA zones 8 through 11. Yucca aloifolia is a popular landscape plant in beach areas along the lower East Coast from Virginia to Florida.

Yucca aloifolia has become naturalized in Bahamas, Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, Pakistan, South Africa, Queensland, New South Wales, and Mauritania. It is common in gardens and parks of the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain).Yucca aloifolia has an erect trunk, 3-5 in (7.6-12.7 cm) in diameter, reaching up to 5–20 ft (1.5-6.1 m) tall before it becomes top heavy and topples over. When this occurs, the tip turns upward and keeps on growing. The trunk is armed with sharp pointed straplike leaves each about 2 ft (0.6 m) long. The young leaves near the growing tip stand erect; older ones are reflexed downward, and the oldest wither and turn brown, hanging around the lower trunk like an Hawaiian skirt. Eventually the tip of the trunk develops a 2 ft (0.6 m) long spike of white, purplish-tinged flowers, each blossom about 4 in (12.7 cm) across. After flowering, the trunk stops growing, but one or more lateral buds are soon formed, and the uppermost becomes a new terminal shoot. Yucca aloifolia also produces new buds, or offshoots, near the base of the trunk, forming the typical thicket often observed in dry sandy and scrub beach areas of the southeastern United States. .

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Wikipedia