Pronounciation: YUK-ka bac-CA-ta
Hardiness zones
Sunset 6-24
USDA 5-11
Landscape Use: Background, textural accent, container plant, Spanish or Mediterranean architecture.
Form & Character: Clean, clumping, upright stiff and foreboding, rigid, NOT people friendly.
Growth Habit: Evergreen, fibrous, monocot perennial shrub, slowly and stiffly upright, clumping to 6-feet wide and 4-feet tall. Vigor much depends on water supply.
Foliage/texture: Strap leaves to 3-feet long are VERY RIGID, upright and sharp pointed = DANGEROUS! Closely set on stems, margins occasionally thread bearing, filamentous; medium coarse texture.
Flowers & fruits: Beautiful, terminal, immature reddish flower stalks develop into extended panicles to 2 feet of brilliant and large cream white flowers, sometimes tinged with red or purple to 4-inches across, fruit is fleshy and edible.
Seasonal color: Flower stalks during early summer.
Temperature: Banana yucca is hardy to -20oF and thrives in lower desert heat.
Light: Full sun to some partial shade.
Soil: Tolerant
Watering: Banana yucca is a desert dweller and as such is way more drought tolerant than Phoenix mesic yuccas such as Yucca aloifolia, Yucca gloriosa or Yucca gloriosa var. recurvifolia.
Pruning: Delicately and gingerly remove old flower stalks wearing full protective clothing to avoid injury.
Propagation: Seed, cuttings (very easy to root), division (easy if only the leaves weren't so dangerously stout and pointed).
Disease and pests: Spider mites
Additional comments: Banana yucca is a VERY tough arid plant that is great for expansive desert landscaped areas. However, it is VERY dangerous because of its stiff, sharply-pointed leaves. It is best used AWAY from heavy human traffic and inflated sports balls.
A salient socio-environmental observation: Banana yucca is a real 'downer' plant for volleyball, football, basketball, soccer, four square, and pool ball enthusiasts.
