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Yucca endlichiana (Patilla Yucca) - One of the most interesting and collectible members of the genus, this Yucca has upright stiff slightly recurved 1 foot long gray-green leaves that are half-round near the base to narrowly V-shaped above and marked with fine green longitudinal mottling with a red margin that has short thick recurving fibers near the sharp leaf tip. The leaves emerge stemless from thick rhizomes that eventually can form a large basal caudex. The flowers that arise in spring on a short inflorescence near the base of the plant appear at first dark red but open to reveal the white interiors.
Plant in a well-drained soil in a hot full sun location. Hardy to at least 15 F and noted as tolerating temperatures as low as 5 F. in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Yucca endlichiana has a limited distribution in Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert on limestone soils from around 3,300 to 4,000 feet in elevation. The name Yucca was given to the genus by Linnaeus, perhaps by mistake, as it is the Latinized derivation of "yuca", the Caribbean name for Cassava (Manihot esculenta) an unrelated plant in the Euphorbia family that is native to the Caribbean area. Interestingly it was also Linnaeus who applied the name Manihot to Yuca. The American Botanist William Trelease who named this plant in 1907 noted that this plant was originally received from, and named for, Dr. R. Endlich, who stated that it was called "pi-tilla" and that it produced a better fiber than that of the common lechuguilla (Agave lecheguilla).
The first plant of this species we ever saw was a large specimen grown by succulent grower Alice Waidhofer at her Stockton, California home. Its caudex measured nearly 1 foot wide, but its leaves were still only as long as the younger plants we are currently growing. Our crop that we grew of this species from 2008 until 2013 was from seed collected by Joseph Simcox at a location South of Hipolito, Coahuila, Mexico. The seed was germinated and grown on by Mountain States Wholesale Nursery (MSWN) and given to us by their Research Collections Manager George Hull.
The information displayed on this page about Yucca endlichiana is based on the research we conducted about it in our nursery horticultural library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include some of our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
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