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Spanish dagger (Yucca treculeana)

Description

Yucca treculeana is a plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Texas, New Mexico and Coahuila. Common names include Spanish dagger, Spanish bayonet and Don Quixote's lance. Yucca treculeana is a large, tree-like species up to 10 m (33 feet) tall, often branching above the ground. Leaves are up to 128 cm (50 inches) long. Flowers are cream-colored, sometimes tinged with purple. Fruits are fleshy and succulent, up to 19 cm (7.5 inches) long. Some sources list this species as "Yucca spinosa Kunth." However, the type specimen for this name at the herbarium in Berlin appears to be Dasylirion sp., thus rendering the name a "nomen confusum."

Taxonomic tree

  • Domain: Eukarya

    • Kingdom: Plantae

      • Phylum: Magnoliophyta

        • Class: Liliopsida

          • Order: Asparagales

            • Family: Asparagaceae

              • Genus: Yucca