Yucca baccata var. baccata

Banana yucca, blue yucca, Blue Yucca

Family: Agavaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Banana yucca is a native shrub found in the eastern desert mountains in dry Joshua-tree woodland at elevations of 800 to 1,800 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces bell-shaped flowers 5 to 13 centimeters long with red-brown and white perianth parts that hang pendulously. Growing up to 2.5 meters tall with rosettes at ground level and branch tips, it forms a distinctive clump with thick, glaucous leaves. Its leaves are 50 to 100 centimeters long, 2 to 6 centimeters wide, with an expanded base up to 10 centimeters wide and fibrous, shredding margins that range from dark green to grayish-green. The plant produces large, fleshy berry-like fruits 15 to 17 centimeters long that hang pendently when mature.

Habitat: Uncommon. Dry Joshua-tree woodland

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 800-1800 m

Bioregions: e DMtns

California counties: San Bernardino

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.