14 popular yucca varieties with descriptions and characteristics
One of the spectacular and interesting plants grown in the garden is yucca. It is noteworthy that it can be planted not only in open areas, but also at home, the main thing is to create a comfortable microclimate and pick up a spacious flowerpot. The second name of a perennial and evergreen plant is the tree of happiness. There are over 40 varieties of yucca, each different in shape and color.
Yucca in the garden and at home: the advantages and disadvantages of a flower
Among the positive characteristics of yucca, experienced florists distinguish:
- high decorative qualities;
- does not lose its attractive appearance during the year;
- the possibility of using it for landscape design, greening of offices, living rooms;
- beneficial effect on the indoor atmosphere;
- useful properties (used in folk medicine and in industry);
- lush bloom;
- unpretentiousness to growing conditions;
- does not require special skills.
But yucca also has its drawbacks:
- prickly leaf plates;
- rare flowering;
- tallness;
- May cause stomach upset if ingested in pure form;
- there is a possibility of developing allergic reactions.
Yucca, despite some drawbacks, still remains one of the original decorations for home and garden. The main thing is not to place it in bedrooms and children's rooms, and put it out of the reach of kids.
The best varieties with description and characteristics
The following varieties of evergreen yucca are very popular among florists:
Shidigera schidigera
A distinctive feature of the bush is a volumetric rosette, consisting of long leaf plates. White bell-shaped flowers are placed on a powerful shoot-peduncle. The color of the xiphoid leaves is dark green, they are quite tough, on adult bushes they are only at the top.
Yucca Shidigera does not stand out for its intensive growth rate; it is actively used as a raw material for the manufacture of medicines. Thanks to the useful components, the plant normalizes the work of the gastrointestinal tract and improves immunity.
Sizaya
This representative of the yucca reaches a height of two meters. The plant is native to the west coast of the United States. The length of the gray-green leaf plates is 35-65 centimeters, at the edges the color is either white or gray, the fibers exfoliated over time make the bush even more attractive. Collected leaves in dense rosettes.
The flowering phase of yucca occurs in the summer, the color of the bell-shaped flowers is white-green, but there are also specimens with a yellow color.
Elephant or Elephantis
Yucca is a fairly popular species for home keeping, besides it is widely used in alternative medicine. Its juice is especially appreciated, which is used as a raw material for the manufacture of hormonal agents. Rigid sheet plates are used to make strong ropes.
Yucca Elephant has a tree-like stem, at the top of which a strong branching of fibrous leaf plates of light green color is formed. Yucca pleases with white flowers with an interesting yellow border.
Radiant (Y. radiosa)
In the natural environment, the height of the tree reaches 6-7 meters, in indoor conditions - up to 1.5 meters. An exotic plant attracts attention with long leaf plates (50-60 centimeters), collected in a dense bunch. They are only 1 centimeter wide.
Radiant yucca does not require special conditions for growth, rare watering and infrequent feeding procedures are enough for it. The only thing is that it cannot be placed in direct sunlight, it is better to put the pot on the window sill of an east or west orientation.
High
This relatively small perennial plant can be represented as a shrub or tree 1.2-4.5 meters high. The length of the thin sheet plates is 25-95 centimeters, and their width is only 0.2-1.3 centimeters. Over time, they lose their natural color and become yellow, drooping.
The height of the peduncle is 1-2 meters, the color of the bell-shaped flowers is creamy white with a green or pink tint. The dimensions of dry boxes are 4-8 centimeters long. Yucca grows in the southern United States and northern Mexico.
Glorious
This type of yucca is positioned as relatively short, growing up to three meters. Its growth rate is rather slow. Narrow leaf plates with a leathery surface are distinguished by a green color and a shape curved along a central vein. The leaf rosette turns out to be very lush. In young plants, a rosette of leaves forms near the root, and already adult specimens form a strong trunk.
Short-leaved
The tree-like yucca is distinguished by its gigantic size, it grows in Arizona and southern California. Its height reaches 9 meters, the trunk is 50 centimeters in diameter. Branching in the plant begins closer to the top.
The leaves are short, only 3 centimeters long, there are thorns and denticles at the edges. Short-leaved yucca is not suitable for home cultivation due to its tallness. It prefers to grow in well-lit glades; it does not need frequent and abundant watering. It blooms with pale yellow flowers.
Aloe leaf
Yucca of this variety is in special demand among flower growers, it does not have side shoots, all energy is directed to a powerful trunk. There is a plant in the south of North America, Jamaica, Bermuda, where it is able to exist without frequent watering, it is not afraid of dry weather. In nature, the height of the yucca reaches 8 meters.
The ornamental plant has a tree-like shape and a spherical crown. The leaf plates are hard, dark green, the rosette is dense and beautiful. There are teeth at the edges and one spike at the tip. In summer, yucca surprises with its creamy white flowers with a purple hue.
Trekula
The South American guest has treelike stems that are almost not prone to branching, but the crown is quite lush due to dense rosettes of leaf plates. They are painted in bluish-green color, there is a sharpness at the ends, the surface is leathery. The shape of the leaves is triangular, there is a curvature in their thin part.
The inflorescences consist of creamy white flowers. Yucca Trekulya fits perfectly into any floral arrangement. But it is best to grow it in the house, besides this, it has healing properties.
Filamentous
The distribution area of filamentous yucca is the south of Russia, the Crimea and the Caucasus. It grows in an open area, and can winter without additional shelter. If you plant it in central Russia, then it needs protection for the winter.
The plant does not have a stem, it grows as a bush. Yucca attracts attention with its bluish-green leaf plates; stripes of white or yellow are also clearly visible on them. The plates are 70 centimeters long and 4 centimeters wide. There are numerous white threads along the edges. On the peduncle, the height of which is 1 meter, flowers are formed of yellowish-white color.
Coracoid
This type of yucca is also known as Rostrata. This rather spectacular tree forms a thick palm-shaped trunk, traces of dead leaf plates are clearly visible on it. A very beautiful rosette of elongated lanceolate leaves forms at its top.
Yucca Beak-shaped is especially good for decorating a spacious living room or a winter garden, where it takes pride of place. If the cultivation takes place in the winter garden, then paniculate inflorescences will contain many white bells.
South
This tall plant can reach 8-10 meters, its upper part is highly branched, the trunk can be 1 meter in diameter (in adult specimens). The leaf plates are located very close to each other, they are short (up to 30 centimeters long and 2-3 centimeters wide). Their color is dark green, there are threads around the edges.
The inflorescences consist of a large number of cream-colored flowers. They are quite branched and drooping, 1-2 meters long. The homeland of this amazing plant is Mexico.
Glorious
Yucca grows in the southeastern United States. This spherical bush grows up to two meters in height. The stem is tree-like, there are few lateral branches, but there are also single specimens. Lanceolate leaf plates have a leathery surface, bluish-green color, their length is 60 centimeters. There is a sharp thorn at the end of the leaf, denticles along the edges.
In summer, in adult plantings, a rosette with a panicle-shaped inflorescence is formed, which reaches a height of almost 250 centimeters. The flowers are formed in large numbers, their size is 5 centimeters, the color is cream with a purple tint.
Copstack
The variety is compact in size, its height is 1.5 meters, the color of drooping leaf plates is bright green. Unlike other varieties, they are not as tough. The rosette formed near the root is not splendid. The leaves completely cover the trunk, they die off from below.
The plant is not demanding for watering, the level of humidity, it can be propagated by dividing the root or by apical cuttings.
Yucca is an amazing luxurious plant. It can be grown without problems in open areas and indoors..
The main thing is to choose a suitable variety, to cope with the plant is within the power of even a novice grower, given his unpretentiousness in planting and care.
