Cultivated as an ornamental plant in the gardens of central and western Texas and in other southern States, and occasionally in those of southern Europe.
3. [Yucca macrocarpa] Coville. Spanish Dagger.
Leaves 1½°—2° long, 1′—2′ wide, gradually narrowed from the dark red lustrous base to above the middle, rigid, concave, yellow-green, rough on the lower surface and frequently also on the upper surface, with a stout elongated dark tip, and thickened margins separated into stout gray filaments. Flowers in March and April in densely flowered sessile or short-stalked glabrous or occasionally pubescent panicles; perianth usually about 2′ long, with acuminate segments, those of the outer and inner rows nearly of the same size; stamens shorter than the elongated style. Fruit 3′—4′ long, about 1½′ thick, abruptly contracted at apex into a stout point, nearly black when fully ripe, with sweet succulent flesh; seeds about ⅓′ wide, ⅛′ thick, with a narrow border to the rim.
A tree, rarely exceeding 15° in height, with a usually simple stem 6′—8′ in diameter, and often clothed to the ground with living leaves. Bark dark brown and scaly.
Distribution. Arid plains from western Texas to eastern Arizona and southward in Chihuahua.
4. [Yucca mohavensis] Sarg. Spanish Dagger.
Leaves 18′—20′ long, about 1½′ wide, abruptly contracted above the dark red lustrous base, gradually narrowed upward to above the middle, thin and concave except toward the slightly thickened base of the blade, dark green, smooth on both surfaces, with a stout rigid sharp-pointed tip, and entire bright red-brown margins soon separating into numerous pale filaments. Flowers from March to May on slender erect ultimately drooping pedicels 1′—1½′ long, in densely flowered sessile or short-stemmed panicles 12′—18′ in length; perianth 1′—2′ long, the segments united at the base into a short tube, thickened and hood-shaped at the apex, those of the outer rank often deeply flushed with purple, but little longer than the less prominently ribbed usually wider and thinner segments of the inner rank; stamens with more or less pilose filaments nearly as long as the short style. Fruit ripening in August and September, 3′—4′ long, about 1½′ thick, usually much constricted near the middle, abruptly contracted at apex into a short stout point, dark dull brown or nearly black, with flesh often nearly ½′ thick; seeds ⅓′ wide, rather less than ⅛′ thick, with a narrow border to the rim.
A tree, rarely exceeding 15° in height, with a trunk usually simple or occasionally furnished with short spreading branches, and 6′—8′ in diameter, usually surrounded by a cluster of shorter more or less spreading stems and often clothed to the ground with living leaves. Bark dark brown and scaly. Wood soft, spongy, light brown.