Yucca aloifolia L., Agavaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: aloe yucca, daggerplant, Spanish bayonet, Spanish dagger, yucca

French: bayonnette

Spanish: yuca

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Simple plants 1-2 m tall to branched colonies 10 m tall. Leaves numerous in tight spirals, narrowly linear, 35-60 cm long, 2.5-3.5 cm wide, the apical spine terete, 1 cm long, black, the margins entire to denticulate. Inflorescence terminal, paniculate, 20-70 cm long. Flowers with tepals white, fleshy, 4-6 cm long. Fruit...reported to be oblong, 5-9 cm long, 2.5-4.0 cm in diameter, without a papery core but with purple pulp; seeds black" (Howard, 1979; pp. 502-504).

Habitat/ecology:  In New Caledonia, "cultivé à Koé en 1883. Aujourd'hui peu planté mais parfois naturalisé, notamment à Nouméa et à Pouembout" (MacKee, 1994; p. 94).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mexico, Central America, Florida (US), Greater and Lesser Antilles (Howard, 1979; pp. 502-504).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	‘Atiu Island	cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2008) Yucca gloriosa
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Mangaia Island	cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2008) Yucca gloriosa
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Ma‘uke Island	cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2008) Yucca gloriosa
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2008) Yucca gloriosa
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Collected in survey, herbarium record pending.
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 67)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 94) Vouchers cited: Däniker 2835, MacKee 1988, MacKee 42623, MacKee 42680
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île des Pins (Isle of Pines)	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Western Samoa Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 98)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced cultivated	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 133)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced cultivated	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 133)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast and Florida) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Additional information:
Fact sheet from Floridata.

Additional online information about Yucca aloifolia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Yucca aloifolia as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Yucca aloifolia may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. 1998. Potential environmental weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. 208 pp.

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

Howard, Richard A. 1979. Flora of the Lesser Antilles: Leeward and Windward Islands. Vol. 3, Monocotyledoneae. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 586 pp.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Tassin, Jacques. 2005. Jacques Tassin (IAC-CIRAD), personal communication.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.