Yucca glauca

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Asparagaceae
Subfamilia: Agavoideae
Genus: Yucca
Sectio: Y. sect. Chaenocarpa
Series: Y. ser. Glaucae
Species: Yucca glauca
Name

Yucca glauca Nutt., 1813.
Synonyms

Heterotypic

Yucca angustifolia f. stricta (Sims) Voss, Vilm. Blumengärtn. ed. 3, 1: 1057. 1895.
Yucca angustifolia Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 227. 1813.
Yucca glauca subsp. albertana Hochstätter, Piante Grasse 20: 2 (2000.
Yucca glauca subsp. stricta (Sims) Hochstätter, Cactaceae Rev. 1(2): 21. 1999.
Yucca glauca var. gurneyi McKelvey, Yuccas Southw. U.S. 2: 169. 1947.
Yucca glauca var. stricta (Sims) Sprenger, Cat. 1904: 5. 1904.
Yucca stenophylla Steud., Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2, 2: 795. 1841.
Yucca stricta Sims, Bot. Mag. 48: t. 2222. 1821.

Hybrids

Yucca × karlsruhensis Graebn.

Note:

Yucca glauca Nois. ex Sims, Bot. Mag. 53: t. 2662. 1826, nom illeg. = Yucca filamentosa

References

Nutall 1813. Cat. Pl. Upper Louisiana: 89.
Verhoek, S. & Hess, W.J. Agavaceae in Flora of North America (2008). 'eFloras. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. 2010 Jan 15 [1].
Govaerts, R. & al. 2006. World Checklist of selected plant families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens. 2010 Jan 15 [2]

Vernacular names
English: soapweed yucca, Spanish bayonet
русский: Юкка сизая

Yucca glauca (syn. Yucca angustifolia) is a species of perennial evergreen plant, adapted to xeric (dry)growth conditions. It is also known as small soapweed,[3] soapweed yucca, Spanish bayonet,[4] and Great Plains yucca.

Yucca glauca forms colonies of rosettes. Leaves are long and narrow, up to 60 cm long but rarely more than 12 mm across. Inflorescence is up to 100 cm tall, sometimes branched sometimes not. Flowers are pendent (drooping, hanging downward), white to very pale green. Fruit is a dry capsule with shiny black seeds.[5][6]

Distribution

Yucca glauca is native to central North America: occurring from the Canadian Prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada; south through the Great Plains to Texas and New Mexico in the United States.[7][8]
Pollinators

The "honey ant" (Myrmecocystus mexicanus), among other species, has been observed collecting nectar from Y. glauca.[9]
Uses

Soapweed yucca was a traditional Native American medical plant, used by the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Lakota, and other tribes.[3]

Among the Zuni people, the seed pods are boiled and used for food.[10] Leaves are made into brushes and used for decorating pottery, ceremonial masks, altars and other objects.[11] Leaves are also soaked in water to soften them and made into rope by knotting them together.[12] Dried leaves are split, plaited and made into water-carrying head pads.[13] Leaves are also used for making mats, cincture pads and other articles.[12] The peeled roots are pounded, made into suds and used for washing the head, wool garments and blankets.[14]

The young flower stalks and unripe fruits can be cooked and eaten.[15]
Gallery

Yucca Glauca flowers

Yucca glauca flowers
Inflorescence

Inflorescence

References

Rowe, H.; Puente, R. (2020). "Yucca glauca". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
"The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species".
"Native American Ethnobotany". University of Michigan–Dearborn. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
Schiemann, Donald Anthony. Wildflowers of Montana. page 140. Mountain Press Publishing Company. Missoula. 2005.
Flora of North America v 26 p 437, Yucca glauca
Nuttall, Thomas. 1813. Catalogue of New and Interesting Plants Collected in Upper Louisiana no. 89.
"Yucca glauca Nutt". Plants Profile. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
"Yucca glauca Nutt". Native Plant Database - Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
Conway, John R. "The Biology of Honey Ants."The American Biology Teacher. , Vol. 48, No. 6 (Sep., 1986), pp. 335–343.
Stevenson, Matilda Coxe 1915 Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #30 p.73
Stevenson, p.82
Stevenson, p.79
Bell, Willis H and Edward F. Castetter 1941 Ethnobiological Studies in the Southwest VII. The Utilization of Yucca, Sotol and Beargrass by the Aborigines in the American Southwest. University of New Mexico Bulletin 5(5):1-74 (p. 47)
Stevenson, p.83
Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods. New York: Sterling. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-4027-6715-9. OCLC 244766414.