Yucca schidigera

Yucca shidigera is pollinated by the Yucca moth, which spreads pollen and fertilizes flowers while in the process of laying its eggs inside the flower. The larvae then hatch in the fruit and feed on the seeds.
Photo Credit: © Nyenyec via Wikimedia Commons
Yucca schidigera
Common Name: Mojave yucca
Other Common Names: Izote de Ensenada, Spanish dagger
Plant Functional Group: Evergreen broadleaf
Class > Order > Family: Magnoliopsida > Asparagales > Asparagaceae
What does the species look like?

This is a small evergreen plant up to 5 meters tall.  Its leaves are up to 150 centimeters long, pointy, and very rigid.   They are arranged in a spiral on top of a basal trunk. Flowers are 3 to 5 centimeters long, white, and bell-shaped in dense clusters at the end of a central stalk. The flowers are bisexual, having both male and female reproductive parts in each flower.

Yucca schidigera is found in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. It is typically found on well drained soil on rocky slopes and on Creosote flats at an elevation between 300 and 1200 meters.
Where is the species found?
States & Provinces
AZ, CA, NV, UT
Which phenophases should I observe?
Do you see...?
Flowers Flowers or flower buds
One or more fresh open or unopened flowers or flower buds are visible on the plant. Include flower buds or inflorescences that are swelling or expanding, but do not include those that are tightly closed and not actively growing (dormant). Also do not include wilted or dried flowers.
More...

How many flowers and flower buds are present? For species in which individual flowers are clustered in flower heads, spikes or catkins (inflorescences), simply estimate the number of flower heads, spikes or catkins and not the number of individual flowers.

  • Less than 3
  • 3 to 10
  • 11 to 100
  • 101 to 1,000
  • 1,001 to 10,000
  • More than 10,000
Open flowers
One or more open, fresh flowers are visible on the plant. Flowers are considered "open" when the reproductive parts (male stamens or female pistils) are visible between or within unfolded or open flower parts (petals, floral tubes or sepals). Do not include wilted or dried flowers.
More...

What percentage of all fresh flowers (buds plus unopened plus open) on the plant are open? For species in which individual flowers are clustered in flower heads, spikes or catkins (inflorescences), estimate the percentage of all individual flowers that are open.

  • Less than 5%
  • 5-24%
  • 25-49%
  • 50-74%
  • 75-94%
  • 95% or more
Fruits Fruits
One or more fruits are visible on the plant. For Yucca schidigera, the fruit is a fleshy capsule, sometimes constricted, that changes from fleshy green to leathery tan, grayish-brown or brown.
More...

How many fruits are present?

  • Less than 3
  • 3 to 10
  • 11 to 100
  • 101 to 1,000
  • 1,001 to 10,000
  • More than 10,000
Ripe fruits
One or more ripe fruits are visible on the plant. For Yucca schidigera, a fruit is considered ripe when it has turned leathery tan, grayish-brown or brown.
More...

What percentage of all fruits (unripe plus ripe) on the plant are ripe?

  • Less than 5%
  • 5-24%
  • 25-49%
  • 50-74%
  • 75-94%
  • 95% or more
Recent fruit or seed drop
One or more mature fruits or seeds have dropped or been removed from the plant since your last visit. Do not include obviously immature fruits that have dropped before ripening, such as in a heavy rain or wind, or empty fruits that had long ago dropped all of their seeds but remained on the plant.
More...

How many mature fruits have dropped seeds or have completely dropped or been removed from the plant since your last visit?

  • Less than 3
  • 3 to 10
  • 11 to 100
  • 101 to 1,000
  • 1,001 to 10,000
  • More than 10,000
What do these phenophases look like?

There is currently no photoguide available for this species. If you'd like help us create one, use the guidance document and species template provided here. Then send it via email to education@usanpn.org when it is complete.

USDA PLANTS profile for Mojave yucca (USDA Symbol: YUSC2 )