Yucca treculiana

Yucca treculiana Carrière^[4] is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Texas, southern New Mexico, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas.^[5] Common names include Spanish dagger, Spanish bayonet, Trecul's Yucca, and Don Quixote's lance.

Yucca treculiana
1860 illustration[1]
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asparagaceae
Subfamily:	Agavoideae
Genus:	Yucca
Species:	Y. treculiana
Binomial name
Yucca treculiana Carrière
Synonyms[3]
Sarcoyucca treculeana (Carrière) Linding. Yucca agavoides Carrière Yucca argospatha Verl. Yucca aspera Regel Yucca baccata var. australis Engelm. Yucca canaliculata Hook. Yucca canaliculata var. pendula K. Koch Yucca contorta Carrière Yucca cornuta Baker Yucca crassifila Engelm. Yucca longifolia Buckley, nom. illeg. Yucca recurvata Carrière Yucca revoluta Carrière Yucca spinosa auct non Kunth Yucca treculeana var. canaliculata Trel. Yucca treculeana var. glauca Sprenger Yucca treculeana var. succulenta McKelvey Yucca undulata K.Koch

Yucca treculiana is a large, tree-like species up to 10 m (33 feet) tall, often branching above the ground. Leaves are up to 128 cm (50 inches) long. Flowers are cream-colored, sometimes tinged with purple. Fruits are fleshy and succulent, up to 19 cm (7.5 inches) long.^[6][7]

In the last three generations, it has experienced a population decline of 30 percent, attributable due to habitat loss.^[2]

Some sources list this species as "Yucca spinosa Kunth." However, the type specimen for this name at the herbarium in Berlin appears to be Dasylirion sp., thus rendering the name a "nomen confusum."^[8]

Spanish Dagger (Yucca treculiana), Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Cameron County, Texas, USA (12 April 2016)