Spanish Bayonet (Yucca faxoniana)

   
 

Overview of Yucca faxoniana, Chihuahuan Desert Gardens, March. Yucca faxoniana in flower. Indio Mountains Research Station, Hudspeth Co., Texas, March. Photographs by Wynn Anderson.

• Common English Names: Spanish Bayonet, Giant Dagger, Faxon Yucca
• Common Spanish Names: Palma samandoca
• Scientific Name: Yucca faxoniana
• Family: Family: Asparagaceae (formerly Agavaceae) (Asparagus Family)
• Geographic Range: Big Bend region in Hudspeth, Presidio, and Brewster counties of Texas; adjacent Chihuahua and northern Coahuila in Mexico.
• Description: Robust, stately, upright (to 15'), rarely branching, arborescent (tree-like) plant with a symmetrical hemispheric head of numerous broad, sharply pointed, dark green, blade-like leaves radiating from the crown of a thick semi-succulent trunk. Dried leaves persist, folding neatly against the trunk to form a protective skirt.
• Landscape Usage: Seed grown plants are sometimes commercially available, but otherwise wild-collected plants of this somewhat rare, limited-range species should not be used for landscaping.
• Notes: Once merged under the closely related species, Yucca carnerosana, both are now recognized as separate species.

Last Update: 25 Aug 2013