Yucca schidigera

Mojave yucca

Family: Agavaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Mojave yucca is a native shrub found in southern San Diego County, southern Mojave Desert, and northwestern Sonoran Desert in chaparral and creosote-bush scrub at elevations below 2,500 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces white to cream-colored flowers in large pendulous clusters hanging from tall inflorescences. Growing 1 to 5 meters tall with erect, mostly unbranched stems forming rosettes at the tips, it develops distinctive clusters well above ground level. Its rigid leaves are 30 to 150 centimeters long, 3 to 5 centimeters wide, with an expanded white base and fibrous, shredding margins that create a distinctive textured appearance. The plant produces large cylindrical berry-like fruits 5 to 11.5 centimeters long, hanging pendulously from the plant's rosettes.

Habitat: Chaparral, creosote-bush scrub

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: < 2500 m

Bioregions: s SW (San Diego Co.), s DMoj, nw DSon

California counties: Inyo, San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, Imperial, Santa Clara, Kern

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