Yucca flaccida

Author:Darlene J. Biddle

Common Names: (Uphof 560)

• Weak leaf Yucca

Higher Taxa: according to Cronquist's System (Mabberley 621)

• Class:Monocotyledonea
• Subclass:Liliidae
• Order:Liliales
• Family:Agavaceae
• Genus:Yucca
• Species:flaccida

Identification:Y. flaccida was first discovered by Adrian Hardy Haworth (1768-1833), a British gardener and entomologist zoologist (Stafleu and Cowan 105).The species was first described by Haworth in Supplementum Plantarum Succulentarum(Hooker and Jackson 1244).

Alfred Rehder describes this species as being similar to Y. filamentosa but the leaves "gradually attenuate, recurving with thinner straighter threads: panicle usually pubescent, shorter: carpels with angular back"(Rehder 76).

Y. flaccida is closely related to Y. filamentosa. However, the leaves of Y. flaccida are shorter, 1 to 1 3/4 inches long, and narrower, 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. The leaves bend downwards. The flowers of Y. flaccida are also similar to Y. filamentosa"but occur in a downy, shorter panicle"(Dirr 759).

Geography: According to Stanwyn and Skog, this species is native to the South Plains of the United States(153). It can also be found in Tennessee in three of the four counties which the Smoky Mountains are in, Polk, Blount, and Sevier(Chester et al. 17). There are also several counties in Georgia where Y. flaccidacan be found(Jones and Coile 10).

Table I: North American Distribution of Y. flaccida

Y. flaccida was introduced in 1816 and can be found inland from North Carolina to Alabama(Dirr 759).

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