Banana Yucca (Yucca baccata) is an upright shrub with long, sword-like leaves that generally point upward. The leaves are folded to create a channel that catches rain and snow, channeling the water towards the base of the plant. The leaf margins show shredding fibers, that the leaf is tipped with a sharp spine.

Banana Yucca is a signature species of the Mojave Desert and is a major component vegetation communities on dry, well drained gravel and rocky soils in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zone.

Family: Agave (Agavaceae).

Other Names:

Plant Form: Upright shrub with a trunk.

Height: To 4-5 feet

Trunk: None (well, none compared to Mojave Yucca)

Leaves: Very long daggers with a sharp tip; dull gray-green color.

Flowers: Large, thick, hang down.

Seeds: Produced in large, banana-like pods

Elevation: About 2,500 to 4,500 feet (tolerance range extends higher than Mojave Yucca)

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