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Yucca torreyi
Also called Torrey yucca, Don Quixote's Lance, Don Quixote's Lace, Spanish Bayonet, Spanish Dagger
Torrey's yucca is a large desert yucca, usually 3 to 10 ft tall, often with a branched trunk and rigid spine-tipped leaves. It is best grown in full sun with very sharp drainage and little water.
Yucca torreyi, commonly known as Torrey's yucca, is a large species of Yucca native to the Chihuahuan Desert that can reach a height of 20 ft (6.1 m), but more commonly 3–10 ft (0.9–3.0 m).
This species was named for John Torrey, the Columbia University botanist, who designated this yucca as a new variety in 1859.
Yucca torreyi is native to the Chihuahuan Desert and occurs widespread across much of the region. In the United States it occurs from south-central to southeastern New Mexico to Trans-Pecos Texas to central Texas, being most numerous in the Trans-Pecos. In Mexico it occurs in eastern Chihuahua, Coahuila, far eastern Durango, and western Nuevo Leon.
Native Americans ate the pulpy fruits of this and related shrubby species either raw or roasted; they also dried and ground them into meal for winter use. The coarse fibers of the long leaves were made into ropes, mats, sandals, baskets, and cloth.
Aloe yucca · Narrowleaf yucca · Banana yucca · Joshua tree · Adam's needle · Weak-leaf yucca · Giant yucca · Soapweed yucca · Curve-leaf yucca · Moundlily yucca · Mojave yucca · Schott's yucca
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Yucca torreyi by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
