NICE! Plant of the Month
(Yucca baccata) and (Yucca rostrata)
A smaller, narrower-leafed variant of this species is sometimes called (Y.thompsoniana).
Yucca Baccata
Yucca Rostrata.
Copyright © Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, and Texas Native Shrubs – a collection of original photographs taken by Mr. Benny Simpson, Texas naturalist and plantsman extraordinaire, and long time researcher at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Dallas.
Family: Agavaceae
Other Common Names: Y. baccata – Datil, Y.rostrata – Big Bend Yucca
Type: Succulent shrub.
Natural Habitat: Dryland, sometimes with trees and other shrubs Southwest Texas/Big Bend and elsewhere in the Southwest.
Growth: Y.baccata: clumping with short trunks possible, increases by offsets. Y.rostrata: single round clump, develops multi-branched tall trunk with age.
Deer Resistance: Flowers and sometimes tender new leaves eaten. Y. baccata fruit eaten by many animals.
Wildlife: Butterflies, bees, moth-pollinated.
Light Tolerance: Full sun to light shade.
Flowers: White, in tall, closely-packed spikes, spring.
Fruit: Y. baccata: fleshy banana-like fruits, used fresh, cooked and dried by American Indians. Y.rostrata: dried fruits have beaklike appendages.
Leaves: Y.baccata: thick, stiff, blue or blue-gray. Y.rostrata: dark green, slender.
Water Requirements: Very infrequent, none when established.
Soil Requirements: Well-drained essential, not too much organic matter.
Planting Instructions: Banana Yucca eventually forms quite a large clump, four feet or more across so allow for this spread. Beaked Yucca needs some elbow room, more for the eventual treelike form than for any ground-level spreading. Dig the hole twice as wide and the same depth as the nursery container. Backfill with soil from the hole. No soil amendments! These enhance moisture retention and will do more harm than good. Organic mulch near the crown or trunk encourages rot if there has been a lot of rain (or too much watering). Gravel mulch is preferable.
Watering Instructions after planting: Water deeply at planting to settle soil around roots, then water perhaps monthly for the first summer if there’s been no rain. These plants won’t die if you happen to forget a watering. They can fend quite nicely for themselves once established.
NICE! Tip: Use Beaked Yucca as a dramatic feature plant where its beautiful structure may be appreciated. Use Banana Yucca, which doesn’t have formidable thorns, near paved areas where people walk. Pink Winecups (Callirhoe involucrata) or white Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium leucanthum) make pretty companions, weaving their flowers among the Yucca leaves.
Look for the NICE! Plant of the Month signs and information sheets on your next visit to a participating Boerne nursery. And thank you for supporting native plants by using them in your landscapes.