1Up Info - A Portal with a Difference

1Up Travel - A Travel Portal with a Difference.    
1Up Info
   

Earth & EnvironmentHistoryLiterature & ArtsHealth & MedicinePeoplePlacesPlants & Animals  • Philosophy & Religion  • Science & TechnologySocial Science & LawSports & Everyday Life Wildlife, Animals, & PlantsCountry Study Encyclopedia A -Z
North America Gazetteer


You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Shrub > SPECIES: Yucca elata | Soaptree Yucca
 

Wildlife, Animals, and Plants

 


Wildlife, Animals, and Plants

 

Wildlife Species

  Amphibians

  Birds

  Mammals

  Reptiles

 

Kuchler

 

Plants

  Bryophyte

  Cactus

  Fern or Fern Ally

  Forb

  Graminoid

  Lichen

  Shrub

  Tree

  Vine


DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE

SPECIES: Yucca elata | Soaptree Yucca

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:


Soaptree yucca occurs in central Arizona, southern New Mexico, western Texas [2,8], and Coahuila and Chihuahua, Mexico [17]. The PLANTS database provides a distributional map of soaptree yucca in the United States. The typical variety occurs from central Arizona east to southwestern Texas; it is the only variety native to Mexico [24]. Utah yucca occurs from Nevada east to southwestern Arizona and south to north-central Arizona. Verdi yucca is known only in central Arizona [4,24,49].

ECOSYSTEMS [15]:


FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES40 Desert grasslands

STATES:


AZ NV NM TX
MEXICO

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS [5]:


7 Lower Basin and Range
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont

KUCHLER [28] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:


K039 Blackbrush
K040 Saltbush-greasewood
K041 Creosote bush
K042 Creosote bush-bursage
K043 Paloverde-cactus shrub
K044 Creosote bush-tarbush
K045 Ceniza shrub
K046 Desert: vegetation largely lacking
K053 Grama-galleta steppe
K054 Grama-tobosa prairie
K058 Grama-tobosa shrubsteppe
K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
K060 Mesquite savanna
K061 Mesquite-acacia savanna
K065 Grama-buffalo grass
K076 Blackland prairie

SAF COVER TYPES [12]:


68 Mesquite
242 Mesquite

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [39]:


211 Creosote bush scrub
212 Blackbush
501 Saltbush-greasewood
502 Grama-galleta
503 Arizona chaparral
505 Grama-tobosa shrub
506 Creosotebush-bursage
507 Palo verde-cactus
508 Creosotebush-tarbush
701 Alkali sacaton-tobosagrass
702 Black grama-alkali sacaton
703 Black grama-sideoats grama
705 Blue grama-galleta
706 Blue grama-sideoats grama
707 Blue grama-sideoats grama-black grama
708 Bluestem-dropseed
712 Galleta-alkali sacaton
713 Grama-muhly-threeawn
714 Grama-bluestem
715 Grama-buffalo grass
716 Grama-feathergrass
725 Vine mesquite-alkali sacaton
729 Mesquite

HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:


Soaptree yucca is present in many desert scrub communities and is also an important component of semi-desert grasslands. In the San Simon Valley of southeastern Arizona, soaptree yucca, Mariola (Parthenium incanum), and cacti (Opuntia spp.) were subdominant in communities where creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), tarbush (Flourensia cernua), mesquite (Prosopis spp.), or acacia (Acacia spp.) were dominant [10]. Similar shrub communities were described in the Huachuca Mountains of the southern border of Arizona below 4,500 feet (1,370 m). Grass species present here were black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda), crowfoot grama (B. rothrockii), burrograss (Sclerpogon brevifolius), fluffgrass (Tridens pulchellus), bush muhly (Muhlenbergia porteri), and threeawns (Aristida spp.). Desertholly (Perezia nana) and burrowweed (Isocoma tenuisecta) were present in disturbed areas [45]. Soaptree yucca is also subdominant on the Jornada Experimental Range near Las Cruces, New Mexico, and similar communities occur there [3].

Soaptree yucca occurs in an irregular, clumped distribution in grasslands dominated by gramas (Bouteloua spp.), threeawns, tobosagrass (Pleuraphis mutica), and dropseeds (Sporobolus spp.) [6,17,32]. On the Jornada Experimental Range, soaptree yucca is described as a "structural dominant:" 1 of few shrubs growing in black grama grasslands [25].

Soaptree yucca, creosotebush, and fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) are the predominant shrubs in the large area of dune fields known as the Mesilla Basin, New Mexico and adjacent Chihuahua, Mexico [29].


Related categories for SPECIES: Yucca elata | Soaptree Yucca

Send this page to a friend
Print this Page

Content on this web site is provided for informational purposes only. We accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person resulting from information published on this site. We encourage you to verify any critical information with the relevant authorities.

Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy | Links Directory
Link to 1Up Info | Add 1Up Info Search to your site

1Up Info All Rights reserved. Site best viewed in 800 x 600 resolution.