Yucca rostrata
Common name: Big Bend yucca, Beaked yucca
Proportion: Yucca rostrata is a tree with single stem, 5-16 ft. tall, with one but rarely with several heads of leaves. These plants look like Yucca thomsoniana, which generally smaller (only 4-8 ft) and have few branches. The common name – beaked yucca – is derived from unique beaklike additions on dried fruit.
Foliage: The narrow leaves are grown from spherical heads on the top of tree trunk and approximately 1.5-2 ft long. Colors of foliage are ranged from light bluish gray to bluish green and contain attractive yellow stripes on edges. The leaves of Yucca rostrata usually twisted a little bit.
Flowers: The blossom is a panicle around 1.8 ft long. Usually it is located above the leaves. The flowers are painted in shiny white color and bloom in late spring through summer.
Allocation: Beaked yucca is settled in northern states of Mexico and in western Texas. As a landscaping plant Yucca rostrata is grown in small numbers throughout the southwestern states of the US. Its small version, Yucca thomsoniana, is a very popular tree in Texas and Oklahoma too.
Reproduction: By seeds only.
Growing requirements: Beaked yucca preferred to grow under full sun in semi-wet soils, but tolerates partial shade also. It can easily overcome any dry climate once it established root system very well and requires only occasional water supplies in hot summer. It can handle cold too in temperatures down to 5-10°F.
Related species: Yucca rostrata is very similar to Yucca rigida, another treelike yucca with blue sheen leaves. Yucca rostrata has more leaves but they are narrower though. The leaves of Yucca rigida are strict and straight. While yucca is blooming, the rigida’s panicle is hidden halfway by leaves, but in rostrata it is located way above the foliage.
Uses: Yucca rostrata is a very attractive plant of any landscaping design. The spherical head of leaves provides a clear appearance when used individually or as a focal point in decorative gardens. Its high tolerance to dry and cold climates allows it to be grown across all southwestern states in the US. Plants known as Yucca thomsoniana have been planted widely across the southern United States also.