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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES : Yucca baccata | Banana Yucca
SPECIES :
Yucca baccata
ABBREVIATION :
YUCBAC
SYNONYMS :
Yucca baccata (Engelm.) Trel. [40]
Y. b. var. vespertina McKelvey [34,53]
SCS PLANT CODE :
YUBA
YUBAB
YUBAB2
COMMON NAMES :
banana yucca
datil yucca
blue yucca
Spainish bayonet
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of banana yucca is Yucca baccata
Torr. [14,21,23,25,26,34,48,51,52,53]. Yucca species are placed either
in the lily family (Liliaceae) [23,26,34,48] or the agave family
(Agavaceae) [14,21,25,40,51,53]. Two varieties of banana yucca are
currently recognized:
Y. b. var. baccata [25] banana yucca
Y. b. var. brevifolia (Schott) Benson & Darrow [48] Spainish bayonet
or Thornber yucca
Banana yucca apparently hybridizes with at least seven other yucca
species [23,51].
LIFE FORM :
Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
Debbie Tirmenstein, March 1989
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
Janet L. Howard, January 1998
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Howard, Janet L., 1998; Tirmenstein, Debbie, 1989. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES : Yucca baccata | Banana Yucca
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Banana yucca is distributed from southeastern California east to
southern Colorado and western Oklahoma and south to central Arizona,
New Mexico, southern Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico [21,34,48].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon-juniper
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES40 Desert grasslands
STATES :
AZ CA CO NV NM OK TX UT MEXICO
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
BAND BIBE CADE CANY CACA CHIR
FOBO GLCA GRCA GUMO LAME MEVE
MOCA NABR PEFO SAGU WACA ZION
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
3 Southern Pacific Border
7 Lower Basin and Range
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K019 Arizona pine forest
K023 Juniper-pinyon woodland
K027 Mesquite bosque
K031 Oak-juniper woodlands
K032 Transition between K031 and K037
K033 Chaparral
K037 Mountain-mahogany-oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K039 Blackbrush
K041 Creosotebush
K042 Creosotebush-bursage
K043 Paloverde-cactus shrub
K044 Creosotebush-tarbush
K045 Ceniza shrub
K053 Grama-galleta steppe
K054 Grama-tobosa prairie
K058 Grama-tobosa shrubsteppe
K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
K060 Mesquite savanna
K065 Grama-buffalograss
SAF COVER TYPES :
66 Ashe juniper-redberry (Pinchot) juniper
68 Mesquite
239 Pinyon-juniper
237 Interior ponderosa pine
241 Western live oak
242 Mesquite
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
211 Creosotebush scrub
212 Blackbush
401 Basin big sagebrush
412 Juniper-pinyon woodland
415 Curlleaf mountain-mahogany
416 True mountain-mahogany
417 Littleleaf mountain-mahogany
502 Grama-galleta
503 Arizona chaparral
504 Juniper-pinyon pine woodland
505 Grama-tobosa shrub
506 Creosotebush-bursage
507 Palo verde-cactus
508 Creosotebush-tarbush
509 Transition between oak-juniper woodland and mahogany-oak association
703 Black grama-sideoats grama
705 Blue grama-galleta
706 Blue grama-sideoats grama
707 Blue grama-sideoats grama-black grama
713 Grama-muhly-threeawn
718 Mesquite-grama
727 Mesquite-buffalograss
728 Mesquite-granjeno-acacia
729 Mesquite
735 Sideoats grama-sumac-juniper
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Banana yucca is common in chaparral, Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia),
thornscrub, mountain shrub, pinyon-juniper (Pinus-Juniperus spp.),
deciduous and Madrean oak (Quercus spp.), and Madrean oak-pine
(Pinus-Quercus spp.) communities. It fingers into ponderosa pine (P.
ponderosa) and mixed conifer forests [8,9,16,23,31,38,53]. Although it
is not a strong grassland invader, banana yucca also occurs in desert
and southern plains grasslands [9,21]. Publications describing plant
communities dominated by banana yucca are as follows:
Arizona chaparral: plant associations and ecology [12]
Vegetation of the Organ Mountains, New Mexico [16]
Common plant associates of banana yucca are given below by state and
plant community.
CA: Associates in southern California chaparral include Tecate cypress
(Cypress forbesii), mission manzanita (Xyloccus bicolor), Eastwood
manzanita (Arctostaphylos glandulosa), chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum),
laurel sumac (Malosma laurina), birchleaf mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpos
betuloides), and Our Lord's candle (Y. whipplei) [3].
In the Mojave and Colorado deserts, common associates include Joshua
tree, creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), burroweed (Ambrosia dumosa),
ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), and cacti (particularly Opuntia and
Echinocereus spp.). Big galleta (Hilaria rigida), saltgrass (Distichlis
stricta), threeawns (Aristida spp.), and gramas (Bouteloua spp.) are
dominant grasses [42].
AZ: Associates of banana yucca in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)
of northern Arizona include fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens),
green ephedra (Ephedra viridis), Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa),
Whipple cholla (O. whipplei), desert trumpet (Eriogonum inflatum), blue
loco (Astragalus lentiginosus), blue grama (B. gracilis), galleta (H.
jamesii), and mutton grass (Poa fendleriana) [33].
Thornscrub associates include wait-a-minute (Mimosa biucifera), catclaw
acacia (Acacia greggii), crucifixion thorn (Canotia holacantha), jojoba
(Simmondsia chinensis), beargrass (Nolina microcarpa), false-mesquite
(Calliandra eriophylla), and Wright's buckwheat (E. wrightii) [38].
In Fort Bowie National Historic Site, banana yucca occurs in Emory oak
(Q. emoryi), shrub live oak (Q. turbinella), and desert ceanothus
(Ceanothus greggii) communities. Wheeler sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri),
redberry juniper (J. erythrocarpa), sideoats grama (B. curtipendula), and
turpentinebush (Ericameria laricifolia) commonly occur with banana yucca
in all three communities [50].
NM: Banana yucca associates in a creosotebush/low woollygrass
(Erioneuron pulchellum) community in New Mexico include honey mesquite
(Prosopis glandulosa), broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), tarbush
(Flourensia cernua), soaptree yucca (Y. elata), and bush muhly
(Muhlenbergia porteri) [5].
In southwestern New Mexico, banana yucca occurs in Emory oak-Mexican
pinyon (Pinus cembroides), gray oak (Q. grisea), and twoneedle
pinyon-alligator juniper (P. edulis-J. deppeana) communites [32,35].
UT: Banana yucca associates in a blackbrush (Coleogne ramosissima)
community in southwestern Utah are red brome (Bromus rubens), cheatgrass
(B. tectorum), green ephedra, turpentine broom (Thamnosma montana),
desert almond (Prunus fasciculata), and Joshua tree [11].
TX: In a creosotebush community in the Trans Pecos region of Texas,
associates include purple sage (Leucophyllum frutescens), lechuguilla
(Agave lechuguilla), Thompson's yucca (Y. thompsoniana), Texas
prickly-pear (O. lindheimeri), fishhook cactus (Mammillaria microcarpa),
Texas sotol (D. texanum), and bush muhly [10].
In plains grassland savanna, associates of banana yucca include curly
mesquite (H. belangeri), blue grama, hairy grama (B. hirsuta),
whitethorn acacia (Acacia constricta), catclaw acacia, wait-a-mintue,
and shrub live oak [54].
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES : Yucca baccata | Banana Yucca
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Wild and domestic ungulates and rodents browse banana yucca [2,45]. The
leaves are a preferred winter food of elk in Bandelier National
Monument, New Mexico [2]. In southern New Mexico, white-throated and
southern plains woodrats were the most important herbivores of banana
yucca leaves [49]. The flowers and fruits are highly palatable to
ungulates, rodents, and lagomorphs [14,47,49].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Flowers of banana yucca collected in Arizona chaparral contained 11
percent protein [47].
COVER VALUE :
In Utah, cover value of banana yucca was rated "good" for upland game
birds and "fair" for small nongame birds and small mammals [17].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Banana yucca is easily established on disturbed sites [20,51] and can be
planted in heavy-use areas. Cole [13] listed banana yucca as one of the
species that resisted trampling on backcountry campsites in Grand Canyon
National Park, Arizona.
Cultivation: Banana yucca readily produces roots and is easily started
from stem cuttings. In the field, it is often possible to collect stem
portions that already support aerial roots. Detached rhizomes
apparently do not root as readily as detached aboveground stems. Banana
yucca can also be propagated by cutting basal sprouts from the main
stem, preferably including a few roots in the cutting [51].
Both young and mature banana yucca transplant well [20,51]. Webber [51]
reported only 1 percent mortality of 2- and 3-year-old transplanted
seedlings. Rhizomatous plants gained less topgrowth than nonrhizomatous
plants after transplanting.
Mature, bare-rooted banana yucca can be transplanted and maintained in
the nursery for at least 2 years before outplanting. Salvaged, mature
banana yucca showed good survivorship after removal from a gold mine
site in the Mojave Desert of southeastern California. After 2 years in
the nursery, mortality of transplants was 14 percent. Seventy-one
percent of surviving plants were in "excellent" condition; 15 percent
were in "poor" condition (n=226 plants) [20].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Banana yucca is planted as an ornamental [23]. The fruits and seeds of
banana yucca are edible [34,39,48,52].
Banana yucca was greatly utilized by Native Americans. In areas where
banana yucca was plentiful, the fruits and seeds were a dietary staple
[34,48,52]. Fermented drinks such as tequila were made from the sap.
The sap was also used as a color-fixing agent for pottery paint [39].
The roots of banana yucca lather and were used for soap. The leaves are
fibrous and were used for making baskets, sandals, and rope
[6,7,34,39,52].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Banana yucca is becoming rare in eastern Colorado due to harvest of wild
plants for ornamental landscaping [52].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES : Yucca baccata | Banana Yucca
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Banana yucca is a native evergreen shrub from 1 to 3 feet (0.3-0.9 m) in
length [31,43,48]. The flower is a panicle on an erect stem [14,23].
The fruit is an indehiscent, fleshy capsule containing hundreds of small
seeds with tough, waxy seedcoats [23,43,48,51].
Banana yucca stems extend 8 to 16 inches (20-40 cm) into soil [51].
Growth form is variable. Plants are typically acaulescent or more
rarely, caulescent with short upright to procumbent stems. Caulescent
plants may be unbranched to highly branched [43,48]. Stems of all
growth forms have basal buds beneath the soil surface. Additonally,
some banana yucca have short, thick rhizomes. Rhizomatous plants often
grow in clumps, while nonrhizomatous plants are generally solitary [43].
Rhizomes are apparently long lived. Roots are fibrous and highly
branched. Physiology studies suggest that banana yucca roots are
shallow; however, little is known of the extent of the banana yucca root
system [56]. Procumbent plants often produce aerial roots [51].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Stem succulent
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Banana yucca reproduces vegetatively and by seed. Vegetative
reproduction is more common [43,51].
Vegetative reproduction: Banana yucca reproduces by sprouting from
basal buds and/or rhizomes and by layering [43,51]. All banana yucca
have a few buds located on the stem base. After top-kill,
nonrhizomatous plants generally produce three or four vigorous basal
sprouts. Rhizomatous plants generally produce numerous rhizome sprouts
after top-kill; some plants may also produce a few basal sprouts
[30],43,51]. Layering is an important method of regeneration in plants
with procumbent stems [51].
Sexual reproduction: Banana yucca is pollinated solely by the female
yucca moth (Tegeticula yuccasella). After pollinating a banana yucca
flower, the yucca moth flies to a different flower and deposits her eggs
in the new flower's ovary. Most flowers are pollinated, and pollination
typically results in production of a large number of banana yucca seeds.
The seeds and fruit are consumed by yucca moth larvae [1,52]. Addicot
[1] found that banana yucca fruits collected in Arizona, Utah, and
Colorado produced a mean of 116 viable seeds per fruit. Number of
viable seeds consumed by yucca moth larvae was low; larvae tended to
consume inviable seeds near the fruit apex. In a similar study, Keeley
and others [27] reported a 10 to 12 percent loss of seeds due to yucca
moth larvae. Larvae of other insects may also damage fruits or seeds.
Wallen and Ludwig [49] reported that fruits infested with Tenebrionidae
beetle larvae were usually aborted.
Seeds are dispersed by frugivorous animals. In desert shrubland of New
Mexico, woodrats and lagomorphs were primary seed dispersers [49].
Webber [51] found that in the laboratory, germination rates of seeds of
eight species of yucca were good: seed collections of all species showed
80 to 90 percent germination. (Germination rate of banana yucca seed
was not tested.) In the field, seedling establishment of yuccas,
including banana yucca, is limited. Moisture and temperature conditions
are rarely adequate for seedling survivorship in the environments in
which banana yucca occurs [28]. During 4 years of field research in New
Mexico, Webber [51] recorded establishment of only 25 banana yucca
seedlings: 9 in southern New Mexico and 16 in relatively less arid
northern New Mexico.
Age at first reproduction and years between subsequent seed set are
undocumented. An Apache elder reported that banana yucca first flowers
at 2 to 3 years of age, and mature plants flower approximately every 2
years if rainfall is sufficient [39]. (Smith [44] reported that
soaptree yucca sets seed only after plentiful winter and spring rains.)
A computer model based upon average annual carbohydrate storage predicts
a 3-year cycle of seed production for banana yucca [49].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Banana yucca occurs in canyons and on dry plains, washes, and slopes
[23,50]. Soils may be loamy, sandy, or clayey, and are sometimes
alkaline [50,57]. Banana yucca is common on rocky soils and occurs over
pans and gravels. Soils are characteristically dry [45,50]. In Nevada,
banana yucca grows on soils that receive less than 6 inches (150 mm) of
annual precipitation [45].
Aspect upon which banana yucca occurs varies. In Arizona chaparral,
shrub live oak-banana yucca-yellowleaf silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
communties tend to occur on north and east slopes [12]. In the Organ
Mountains of New Mexico, banana yucca occurs mainly on south-facing
slopes at high elevations (>7,600 feet (2,300 m)) and on east and west
exposures at intermediate elevations (6,700-7,600 feet (2,000-2,300 m))
[16].
Elevational range of banana yucca by state follows.
California 2,600 to 4,300 feet (800-1,300 m) [23]
Colorado 5,300 to 7,500 feet (1,600-2,300 m) [22]
New Mexico 2,000 to 8,000 feet (600-2,400 m)
Texas 2,000 to 8,000 feet (600-2,400 m) [48]
Utah 2,460 to 7,870 feet (750-2,400 m) [53]
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Banana yucca occurs on disturbed and undisturbed sites [12,37,19]. In
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, banana yucca was common in both
early postfire and mature twoneedle pinyon-Utah juniper (Juniperus
osteosperma) communities [19].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Phenology of banana yucca is poorly documented. The flowering period is
generally from April to June depending upon latitude and elevation
[56].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES : Yucca baccata | Banana Yucca
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Fire autecology: Survival - Nonrhizomatous banana yucca survives fire
by sprouting from basal stem buds beneath the soil surface
[18,19,41,51]. Rhizomatous banana yucca sprout from rhizomes after
fire. Banana yucca is easily top-killed by either fire or frost. It
is the most northerly yucca in its taxonomic section (Sarcocarpa), and
sprouting may have evolved in banana yucca as an adaptation to freezing
temperature rather than to fire [18,19,51]. However, the ability to
sprout has allowed banana yucca to survive in and sometimes dominate
fire-prone ecosystems.
Postfire seedling establishment: Seedling establishment after fire is
probably rare in banana yucca. Presence of banana yucca seedlings after
fire has not been noted in scientific literature. Keeley and Keeley
[28] concluded that fire has not been a selective agent in seed
germination traits of banana yucca. In the laboratory, banana yucca
seeds showed greater mortality after exposure to high temperature (>212
degrees Fahrenheit (100 deg C)) than seeds of nine other yucca species:
mortality of banana yucca seed was nearly 100 percent. Although
germination rates of banana yucca seeds were significantly greater
(p<0.01) at 194 degrees Fahrenheit (90 deg C) than at room temperature,
germination rates were high in both cases (97% at 194 deg and 84% at
room temperature).
Fire regimes: There is an extremely wide range of fire regimes in the
ecosystems in which banana yucca occurs. Mountain shrub and Arizona
chaparral typically experience frequent, stand-replacement fire
[12,18,19,29]. Madrean oak-pine and pinyon-juniper have mixed-severity
fire regimes [15,36,46]. Some desert shrub communites such as
blackbrush and creosotebush experience fire infrequently [24,55]. For
more discussion on these fire regimes, see FEIS reports on: Quercus
gambelii (mountain shrub ecosystems), Ceanothus gregii (Arizona
chaparral), Pinus cembroides (Madrean oak-pine and pinyon-juniper),
Pinus edulis (pinyon-juniper), and Coleogne ramosissima and Larrea
tridentata (desert shrub).
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Small shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
Rhizomatous shrub, rhizome in soil
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES : Yucca baccata | Banana Yucca
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Banana yucca is top-killed by fire [18,19,30].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Nonrhizomatous banana yucca sprout from underground buds on the stem
base after top-kill by fire [30,51]. Rhizomatous plants occasionally
sprout from basal buds, but are more likely to sprout from rhizomes.
After wildland fire in evergreen shrubland in Carslbad Cavern National
Park, New Mexico, rhizomatous banana yucca sprouted mostly from rhizomes
at 1 to 4 inch (2.5-10 cm) depths. A few plants sprouted from the base
[30].
Banana yucca established after wildland fire in Mesa Verde National
Park, Colorado. In 1934, a stand-replacing fire occurred in a twoneedle
pinyon stand. In the long term, banana yucca became dominant species in
the postfire community; Utah serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis) was
the only shrub with greater coverage and frequency. At postfire year
29, banana yucca had 6 percent cover and 16 percent frequency [19].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE CASE STUDIES :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES : Yucca baccata | Banana Yucca
2. Allen, C.D. 1996 [27292]
3. Armstrong, W. P. 1966 [21332]
4. Arnott, H. J. 1962 [4317]
5. Barbour, M. G.; MacMahon, J. A.; Bamberg, S. A.; Ludwig, J. A. 1977 [7172]
6. Botkin, C. W.; Shires, L. B. 1944 [4527]
7. Botkin, C. W.; Shires, L. B.; Smith, E. C. 1943 [5097]
8. Brown, D. E. 1982 [8886]
9. Brown, D. E. 1982 [3603]
10. Bryant, V. B., Jr. 1974 [16055]
11. Callison, J.; Brotherson, J. D. 1985 [23511]
12. Carmichael, R. S.; Knipe, O. D.; Pase, C. P.; Brady, W. W. 1978 [3038]
13. Cole, D. N. 1987 [19587]
14. Cronquist, A.; Holmgren, A. H.; Holmgren, N. H.; (and others). 1977 [719]
15. Dick-Peddie, W. A.; Alberico, M. S. 1977 [5002]
16. Dick-Peddie, W. A.; Moir, W. H. 1970 [6699]
17. Dittberner, P. L.; Olson, M. R. 1983 [806]
18. Erdman, J. A. 1969 [11437]
19. Erdman, J. A. 1970 [11987]
20. Franson, R. L. 1995 [24829]
21. Great Plains Flora Association. 1986 [1603]
22. Harrington, H. D. 1963 [6851]
23. Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993 [21992]
24. Humphrey, R. R. 1974 [14952]
25. Kartesz, J. T. 1994 [23878]
26. Kearney, T. H.; Peebles, R. H.; Howell, J. T.; McClintock, E. 1960 [6563]
27. Keeley, J. E.; Keeley, S. C.; Swift, C. C.; Lee, J. 1984 [5808]
28. Keeley, J. E.; Meyers, A. 1985 [5761]
29. Keeley, J. E.; Zedler, P. H. 1978 [4610]
30. Kittams, W. H. 1973 [6271]
31. Knipe, O. D.; Pase, C. P.; Carmichael, R. S. 1979 [1365]
32. Mahgoub, E. F.; Pieper, R. D.; Ortiz, M. 1988 [348]
33. Marquiss, R. W. 1967 [3956]
34. McKelvey, S. D. 1938 [3902]
35. Medina, A. L. 1987 [3978]
36. Moir, W. H. 1982 [5916]
37. Muller, C. H. 1940 [4244]
38. Pase, C. P.; Brown, D. E. 1982 [1826]
39. Potter-Basso, G. 1991 [17349]
40. Powell, A. M. 1988 [6130]
41. Reay, F.; Reay, B. 1987 [22783]
42. Sampson, A. W.; Jesperson, B. S. 1963 [3240]
43. Simpson, P. G. 1975 [6280]
44. Smith, S. D. 1975 [6243]
45. Stark, N. 1966 [47]
46. Swetnam, T. W.; Baisan, C. H.; Brown, P. M.; Caprio, A. C. 1989 [10573]
47. Urness, P. J.; McCulloch, C. Y. 1973 [12223]
48. Vines, R. A. 1960 [7707]
49. Wallen, D. R.; Ludwig, J. A. 1978 [5850]
50. Warren, P. L.; Hoy, M. S.; Hoy, W. E. 1992 [19871]
51. Webber, J. M. 1953 [2474]
52. Weber, W. A.; Wittmann, R. C.1996 [27569]
53. Welsh, S. L.; Atwood, N. D.; Goodrich, S.; Higgins, L. C., eds.
1987 [2944]
54. Whitfield, C. J.; Anderson, H. L. 1938 [5252]
55. Wright, H. A.; Bailey, A. W. 1982 [2620]
56. Yeaton, R. I.; Yeaton, R. W.; Waggoner, J. P., III; Horenstein, J. E.
1985 [281}
57. Everett, P. C. 1957 [7191]
Index
Related categories for SPECIES : Yucca baccata
| Banana Yucca
|
 |
