Yucca cernua

Yucca cernua

Yucca cernua Keith

Common Name: Nodding yucca

Habitat: Phenology: Plantssss in either flower or fruit have been observed June - November (Keith, 2003).

Synonyms:

Type location:

Distribution:
East Texas in a six square kilometer area in west-central Newton County and adjacent eastern Jasper County (Keith, 2003). Openings in and margins of pine hardwood forests on brownish acid clays of the Redco Series (Keith, 2003).

Short description of the species:

Plants acaulescent (trunkless) forming solitary clumps. Leaves usually 40-70 cm long, 3.5-6.5 cm wide at widest place, glaucous and bluish-green when young, yellowish-green to olive-green and flat to slightly concave in age, the margin of the leaves corneous, yellowish and denticulate (with short sharp "teeth's"). Inflorescens 2-4 m tall. Flowers tepals 6, white or slightly greenish, mostly 3.5-5 cm long and about half as wide. The flowers are pendant on nodding branches in a long panicle in the upper half of the woody scape. Fruit is pendant (hanging), dry, dehiscent (splitting open when mature), somewhat woody capsule 3.2-4.5 cm long and 2-2.5 cm wide. Seeds unknown at the time of writing.

Notes:
There are only known a very few plants of this species, one "big" population of approximately 1000 plants, and there are known six other small populations with fewer than 100 plants in each place.
The status of Yucca cernua, status not sure yet, it might a natural hybrid with genes from Yucca rupicola or Yucca pallida? More study is needed.

Yucca cernua is related to:
Yucca reverchoni
Yucca rostrata
Yucca rupicola
Yucca pallida
Yucca thompsoniana

Hardiness:
The hardiness of Yucca cernua for cultivation here in Denmark is not know at the time of writing, but it might only be hardy enough for cultivation inside an unheated greenhouse. It is cultivated in several gardens in Germany and in various gardens in the USA (Michigan in Massachusetts).

My own plants:

I do not cultivate this new species yet.

Pictures:


Hans Hansen and his Yucca cernua, in bloom July 2016. Hans is about 2 meter tall, so the flower is really huge. Copyright 2016 Hans Hansen.	Yucca cernua Copyright 2016 Hans Hansen.	Yucca cernua Copyright 2016 Hans Hansen.

If you have a photo of a Yucca cernua? Would I be very happy if I may use it! Let me know.

Reference:
Keith, E. L. 2003. Yucca cernua (Agavaceae, series Rupicolae), a new species from Newton and Jasper counties in eastern Texas. 20(3): 891-898.
Botanical Research Institute of Texas, New Native Texas Taxa: New To Science

If you have additional references I would be very interested in knowing about it.

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