Yucca rupicola is a plant in the family Asparagaceae, known as the twistleaf yucca, twisted-leaf yucca, Texas yucca or twisted-leaf Spanish-dagger. The species was described by George Heinrich Adolf Scheele in 1850. This is a small, acaulescent plant with distinctive twisted leaves. It is native Texas and northeastern Mexico.
Description Yucca rupicola forms colonies of rosettes, lacking trunks above-ground but producing a branched caudex under the surface. Leaves are narrowly lanceolate, slightly succulent, twisted, up to 60 cm long but about 40 mm wide at its widest point. Flowers are pendant (drooping), bell-shaped, white or greenish, and bloom from April through June. The blooming stalk can measure up to 1.8 m tall (6 feet). Fruit is a dry capsule up to 6 cm long that is dull black in appearance.Flora of North America v 26 p 431, Yucca rupicolaScheele, George Heinrich Adolf. 1850. Linnaea 23: 143–146. Yucca rupicolaEngelmann, Georg. 1873. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis 3: 48. Yucca rupicola
Distribution and habitat Yucca rupicola is native to the Edwards Plateau region of Texas and Coahuila and Nuevo Leon in Mexico.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Yucca rupicola
Yucca rupicola grows in rocky, open areas, including limestone ledges, grassy plains, and open woodlands. It grows well in dry, caliche soil in sun or partial shade.
Ecology Yucca rupicola is a larval host for Megathymus yuccae, which feed on the tips of leaves when young and bore down to the root to pupate. The blossoms are also a source of nectar for moths.
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photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, Yucca rupicola, collected in Texas in 1900