Some simple advice on Yucca care

Yucca are pretty hardy plants, and so long as you exercise some common sense and are aware of the basics you should be fine.

If you sit your Yucca in direct sunlight it should stay pretty compact, as it'll be getting all the light it needs. The less light they get, the more they stretch towards the light source.

As Yuccas age it's quite common for black spots on the leaves to appear - don't panic, it's not fatal. Try to remove the blackened areas if possible, or, failing that, just remove the whole leaf. If the whole head becomes 'unsightly' simply cut it down a bit and wait. Yucca's will take pruning like this in their stride and grow new, healthy heads. Make sure you don't over water the plant during this time though, it has less foliage, and so needs less water.

Watering:

Yuccas are durable, and can tolerate being dry, so don't panic if you go away for a while and there's no one around to water it. The rule of thumb seems to be to check the soil, and when it dries out it's time to break out the H₂O.

Under-watering will show - the leaves will turn yellow and/or brown, and the stalks will shrivel up.

Similarly, over-watering will also show - although I've never seen it, over watering a Yucca results in the leaves having brown tips, with a yellow 'halo' around the tip.

Eating Yucca Roots

The root is quite edible and can be prepared in the same ways as a potato. It is quite popular in Colombian cuisine, and can be found in the produce departments of some Southern California grocery stores. IMHO they taste REALLY good when fried like breakfast potatoes with sweet yellow onions and a little bit of tomato and butter.

Soapweed

When mashed or rubbed into a pulp the leaves give off a substance that can be used as soap. The fibers in the leaves are very stringy and can be woven together.

Sewing Kit

By breaking off the thorn at the tip of a leaf and pulling it back across the length of the leaf you can create a line of fiber that is attached to the barb. That can be used as a sewing needle and thread for quick repairs in the wild.

Making Fire

When dried in the sun, the stalk of one of these plants is a nearly ideal material for the baseplate of a bow and drill. The baseplate is the part that is drilled to produce little glowing ember of sawdust.

Yuc"ca (?), n. Zool.

See Flicker, n., 2.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Yuc"ca (?), n. [NL., from Yuca, its name in St. Domingo.] Bot.

A genus of American liliaceous, sometimes arborescent, plants having long, pointed, and often rigid, leaves at the top of a more or less woody stem, and bearing a large panicle of showy white blossoms.

⇒ The species with more rigid leaves (as Yucca aloifolia, Y. Treculiana, and Y. baccata) are called Spanish bayonet, and one with softer leaves (Y. filamentosa) is called bear grass, and Adam's needle.

Yucca moth Zool., a small silvery moth (Pronuba yuccasella) whose larvae feed on plants of the genus Yucca.

 

© Webster 1913.