The Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera), also known as the Spanish Dagger, is a flowering plant of the family Agavaceae that is native to the Mojave desert and Sonoran desert of southeastern California, Baja California, southern Nevada and western Arizona.

The Mojave yucca is a tree that has a compact, white and bulbous flower cluster or crown on top of a conspicuous basal trunk. These plants can grow 16-20 feet tall and can be easily identified by their flower cluster and three-foot-long, bayonet-like leaves. The leaves are concavo-convex, thick, very rigid, and yellow-green to blue-green in color. The bark is gray-brown, being covered with brown dead leaves near the top, becoming irregularly rough and scaly-to-ridged closer to the ground.

The flowers are bell-shaped and grow 1 1/2" long. They are white, sometimes having a purple tinge. The fruit is fleshy and green, changing to a leathery, dark brown capsule as it matures in late summer. They are typically 3 to 4 inches long, 1 inch in diameter, and 6 celled.

This yucca typically grows on rocky desert slopes and Creosote desert flats below 7,000 feet. They thrive in full sun and in soil with excellent drainage. It also needs no summer water.

Uses

The fibers of the leaves were used by Native Americans to make rope, sandals, and cloth. The flowers and fruit could be eaten and the black seeds were ground into a flour. The roots were used to make soap. Currently extracts from this plant are in animal feed and various herbal medications. Some reports claim that Native Americans washed their hair with yucca to fight dandruff and hair loss. Among the other maladies this yucca has been used to treat are headaches, bleeding, gonorrhea, arthritis and rheumatism.

References

• Desert USA entry for Mojave Yucca
• A photo of Y. schidigera flowers by Keir Morse
• Mojave yucca, with several pics of plant and fruit
• Additional info on the Mojave Yucca
• Foster S, Duke JA; A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants: Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston (1990).