Yucca schidigera aka Mohave Yucca

Yucca schidigera, or Mojave yucca, is an evergreen shrub or tree. It belongs to the asparagus family, Asparagaceae. Its native range spans southern Nevada to Baja California in Mexico. It also grows in Arizona and California. It lives in deserts, chaparral, and creosote bush scrub. These habitats range from sea level into high desert hills.

Plants reach about 15 feet [4.5 metres] in the PFAF account. Virginia Tech gives a greater height of 20 feet [6.1 metres]. A short, single trunk often bears a few spreading limbs. Dead brown leaves cover the young trunk. Later, gray-brown bark forms rough scales and ridges. Stiff leaves crowd the branch tips and stay green year-round. They measure 1–2 feet [0.3–0.6 metres] long. Their color ranges from blue-green to yellow-green. Each leaf has a sharp tip and curling, fibrous edges.

Creamy white, bell-shaped flowers may carry a purple tint. They crowd an upright, branched cluster about 1.5 feet [0.46 metres] tall. Virginia Tech places bloom in spring through early summer. PFAF instead lists early fall as the main bloom season. A specific moth pollinates the flowers in the native range. Britain lacks that moth, so seed production needs hand pollination. The fruit is a capsule with six chambers. It changes from green to dark brown by late summer. Its flesh becomes leathery as it matures.

Grow this yucca in full sun, with no shade. It accepts sand, loam, clay, and soil low in nutrients. PFAF favors sandy loam and notes better hardiness in poor sand. It accepts mildly acid, neutral, and mildly alkaline soil. Established plants withstand drought, though PFAF lists dry or moist soil. PFAF gives USDA hardiness zones 9–10. Landscape uses include borders, pots, coastal sites, and specimen planting. Individual crowns die after bloom, but often form side shoots first.

Flowers and fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. Young flowering stems are eaten cooked. Fruit also serves in jelly, drinks, and dried flour. Leaf fibres have supplied rope, baskets, mats, and footwear. Leaves have also served as brushes. Roots provide a soap substitute because they contain saponins. These compounds pose a human toxicity hazard, despite poor absorption. The edible uses do not make every plant part safe.