Yucca angustissima ssp.  toftiae

Yucca angustissima ssp. toftiae (Welsh) Hochstaetter
Cactaceae-Review, Germany, 1 (2):21, 1998.

Synonyms:
Yucca angustissima var. toftiae Reveal, Intermountain Flora, Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, USA, 534-536, 1977.
Yucca toftiae Welsh, Utah plant novelties in Astragalus and Yucca, Great Basin Naturalist, Vol. 34, No. 4, 308-309, 1975.

Clones and Hybrids:
Non that I have been able to locate in the literature.

Unpublished names:
Yucca glauca var. toftiae.

Type location:
ca. 1 mile North of confluence of San Juan and Colorado rivers, WELSH 11935a, 1973, Holotype BRY. (The type location is now flooded by Lake Powell!!)

Distribution:
This species is endemic to Utah, in sand stone outcrops and hanging gardens, in warm desert shrub communities along Glen Canyon, the San Juan River arms of Lake Powell, the southern portion of the Kaiparowits Plateau and in the nearby Abajo Mountains, in Garfield, Kane and San Juan Co.

Short description of the species:
Plant: Acaulescent or with a stem up to 100 cm tall, single rosettes or clumps of rosettes. Leaves: linear, 20 to 80 cm long, 4 to 18 mm wide, plano-convex to concavo-convex, green to yellow-green, margins white, and they quickly get fibers along the edge. Inflorescens: mostly 120 to 340 cm tall, racemose or paniculata, (with 2 to 18 lateral branches), the flower stem is held  way above the leaves. Flowers: campanulata to globose, white to cream, the segments elliptic to lance-ovate, acute, 25 to 52 mm long. Ovary: 15 to 32 mm long. Style: 3 to 11 mm long. Fruit: erect, cylindrical, woody, and somewhat constricted near the middle, 40 to 55 mm long (occasionally 60 mm long!)

Pictures:
I have no pictures available of this species yet! if you have a photo that I may use please let me know

My own plants:
#919   Yucca angustissima ssp. toftiae, Utah, Canyon Rims, fh 1178.92, sown 1998
#1049 Yucca angustissima ssp. toftiae, Utah, Canyon Rims, fh 1178.92, sown 1999

Notes:
Of the Yuccas in Utah this species has the tallest flower stem. It differs from the other varieties with longer leaves, taller flower stem, and the branches (but there can be found rare forms with shorter stems). It has fruit that is and somewhat constricted near the middle (This is also seen in Yucca angustissima ssp. kanabensis).

This species was named to honor the Botanist Catherine Ann Toft, Professor of Evolution and Ecology.

Reference:

HOCHSTAETTER, Cactaceae-Review, Germany, 1 (2):21, 1998.
HOCHSTAETTER, Het geslacht Yucca (2), Succulenta, 78(1), 28-33, 1999
HOCHSTAETTER, Yucca (Agavaceae) CD-rom no. 3, 1999.
REVEAL, Intermountain Flora, Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, USA, Columbia University Press, New York, 534-536, 1977.
WELSH, Utah plant novelties in Astragalus and Yucca, Great Basin Naturalist, Vol. 34, No. 4, 308-309, 1975, USA



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