PhotographsMy photos:This photo was taken in the dry wash of Bell Creek in Caspers Wilderness Park. The photo below is from the Ortega Highway in the Santa Ana mountains, in March. The plant has shot up a flower stalk.
The plant below was starting to bloom, in Holy Jim Canyon in May.
The photo below, from Caspers, shows the spent flower stalk.
More photos:
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This specimen plant is stemless, with it’s leaves arising from the base. The leaves are gray-green and 1 to 2 feet long. The flowering stalk grows to be 8 feet tall and appears after about 15 years. This Yucca is very fragrant. It blooms from April through July, with white pendant flowers, often tinged with purple. The whole plant will die after flowering. This plant is easy to transplant. It will grow best in full sun and in most well-drained soils. It requires little summer irrigation. It makes a dramatic plant for a rocky slope, a rock garden, or a desert garden. It also grows well in large tubs. However, keep it away from paths because its leaf-tips are sharp. Propagate by seeds or by offshoots. This plant will act as a fire retardant if reasonably well watered.
It is common to both the Coastal Scrub and the Chaparral plant communities and is found on dry, often stony slopes below 4000 feet.
Native people made flour from the seeds and used fibers from the leaves to weave rope, nets, and baskets. They roasted the very young flower stalks to produce a food that tasted like baked apple. The flowers are sometimes made into various novelty products.
Field Trips
Anza Borrego Caspers
Holy Jim Canyon Idyllwild
Joshua Tree Mt Palomar Rancho
Santa Ana Torrey Pines
Ortega Highway
Last update 04/05/07
Copyright © Jeanne Lepowsky 2004
