Native Plants

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Monday - December 24, 2012

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Propagation, Seeds and Seeding, Cacti and Succulents
Title: Starting yucca from seed from Austin
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I would like to start a soft leaf yucca recurvifolia from seed. Is that possible? Also, I've looked for seed on dried flower stalks, and I'm not sure that what I'm finding is the seed, and I can't find a photo of the seed/seed on the stalk anywhere online. If it IS possible to propagate from seed, where would I find it? Again, having a problem finding it online.

ANSWER:

The only yucca close to that name of Yucca recurvifolia in our Native Plant Database is Yucca reverchonii (San angelo yucca). So, we dug a little deeper discovered that Yucca recurvifolia is a synonym for Yucca gloriosa (Moundlily yucca)., Synonym, in this case, means that botanists, in their infinite wisdom, have changed the species name (from (reverchonii to gloriosa). However, all is not lost - two members of the Mr. Smarty Plants Team anwered a question about growing yucca from seed in a much better Previous Mr. Smarty Plants Answer than this one could. You will have to scroll down the website page they refer you to in order to get to "Propagation of Yucca." It is detailed with pictures and if you can't propagate yuccas with that information, then you just can't.

On our webpage on Yucca gloriosa (Moundlily yucca), you will note that the states in which the this yucca grow natively are all in Southeast North America, but give it a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Generally speaking, yucca seeds and their pods are similar to one another. Here is another previous Mr. Smarty Plants answer on the subject. From Google, here are a LOT of pictures of the pods and seed. If you run your cursor over a picture. it will enlarge, and if you click on it, it will take you the article from which the picture was extracted.

Aren't you sorry you asked? Now you can spend Christmas Day becoming a yucca propagation expert.

From the Image Gallery

Plains yucca
Yucca campestris