42 THE GENUS YUCCA. 



X. — On the Genus Yucca. By William Wood, Fishergate 



Nurseries, York. 



(Communicated November 20th, 1852.) 



No tribe of plants perhaps has received less attention from 

 planters than this, and yet it is an undeniable fact, that, whether 

 considered in regard to its suitability for constituting a natural 

 group, or as an individual feature in the mass, it is probably 

 unequalled as far as effect is concerned, on account of its exotic 

 aspect, and imposing appearance when in bloom. It is true that, 

 like many other ornamental shrubs and trees, the species of Yucca 

 generally require from one to three or more years to attain 

 sufficient vigour of growth to be able to form their majestic flower- 

 scapes, or stems, but the lover of Nature's grand and diversified 

 forms receives ample compensation for this in their peculiar habit of 

 growth, standing out, as it were, with Palm-like aspect from amongst 

 surrounding objects. One of the principal reasons which have proba- 

 bly led to the depreciation and comparative neglect of Yuccas is, that, 

 instead of being permitted to form a distinct and separate feature 

 in the arrangement of a garden, they have too often been either 

 crowded amongst other shrubs of a miscellaneous character, or they 

 have been placed in such isolated or obtrusive positions, as to form 

 no essential or desirable relative feature in the general outline. 



To convey an accurate idea of the effect which plants of this 

 genus are capable of producing, it may not be improper to remind 

 those who are about to plant, thai, Yuccas differ from other shrubs 

 in their having remarkably large, terminal, radiating crowns of 

 broad, dark, or glaucous-green, sword-shaped, needlepointedleaves 

 from one and a half to three feet in length. In the largest kinds 

 these crowns proceed from a common centre situated on the 

 extremity of an uubranched column-like stem, varying in their 

 maturer state of growth from a few inches to three or four feet in 

 height, and each respective crown measures, according to the species, 

 from five to ten or twelve feet in circumference. The outline of 

 the crowns also differs; in Y. gloriosa, the leaves are erect, with a 

 broad, obtusely plaited or grooved surface ; in Y. recurvifolia, they 

 are at first erect, but ultimately obtain a decurved position; whilst 

 in Y. draconis the leaves assume a gracefully curved form. The 

 stately flower-stems issue from the centre of each crown of leaves. 

 In the large growing kinds they reach an elevation of from six to 

 eight feet, and progressively form densely-flowered pyramidally- 

 ovate racemes containing from 500 to 1000 large conspicuous, 

 creamy-white, pendent perianths or flower-cups, variously shaded 

 with purple or brown. 



