Virginia Tech Dendrology

giant yucca Agavaceae Yucca gigantea Lem. symbol: --
Leaf: Evergreen, stiff and sword-like, numerous at the ends of branches, to 4 feet long, sharp pointed tip, blue-green to yellow-green, with up-curled edges.
Flower: Bell-shaped, creamy white, borne on an upright branched cluster to 3 feet tall, appearing in spring to early summer.
Fruit: Green changing to dark brown leathery oval capsule, 1 inch long.
Bark: Gray-brown, initially covered with brown dead leaves, later irregularly rough and scaly to ridged; resembling an elephant's foot; often with irregular protuberances.
Form: Picturesque, typically with a single, short trunk and a few spreading limbs, reaching up to 30 feet tall.

Additional Range Information: Yucca gigantea is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.

All material © 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information