Index / Search / Yucca baccata

§1 Plant

Yucca baccata Torr.

vernacular banana yucca — species · Agavaceae

USDA: YUBA
GBIF: 2775788
Rank: species

banana yucca (Yucca baccata) — Platephotograph · Walter FertigCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb, Shrub, Subshrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Agavaceae Dumort.
Genus: Yucca

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 42 counties across 4 states/territories

Legend Native · 42 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: None
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -3 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 115 min.
Precipitation: 7–35 in/yr
pH range: 7–8.5
Root depth: 6 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 4 ft
Height @ 20 y: 3 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 22,700
Propagation: seed, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 42 counties across 4 states/territories.

Arizona view state ↗ 12 N ▾

Colorado view state ↗ 7 N ▾

New Mexico view state ↗ 15 N ▾

Texas view state ↗ 8 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/YUBA ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2775788 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z