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The yuccas comprise the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Yucca of 40-50 species of perennial
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
s, shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s, and tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s in the agave
Agave

Agave is a succulent plant plant of a large botanical genus of the same name, belonging to the family Agavaceae....
 family Agavaceae
Agavaceae

Agavaceae is a family of plants that includes many well-known desert and dry zone types such as the agave, yucca, and Yucca brevifolia. The family includes about 550-600 species in around 18 genus, and is widespread in the tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions of the world....
, notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 and large terminal clusters of white or whitish flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s. They are native to the hot and dry (arid) parts of North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, Central America
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
, South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, and the West Indies.

Yuccas have a very specialized pollination
Pollination

Pollination in flowering plants and gymnosperms is the process that transfers pollen, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself....
 system, being pollinated by the yucca moth
Prodoxidae

Prodoxidae is a family of primitive monotrysian Lepidoptera. Some of these small-to-medium sized moths are day flying, like Lampronia capitella, known to European gardeners as the "Currant Shoot Borer"....
; the insect purposefully transfers the pollen from the stamens of one plant to the stigma of another, and at the same time lays an egg in the flower; the moth larva then feeds on some of the developing seeds, but far from all.

Yuccas are widely grown as ornamental plant
Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, Plant stem and bark....
s in gardens.






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Encyclopedia


The yuccas comprise the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Yucca of 40-50 species of perennial
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
s, shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s, and tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s in the agave
Agave

Agave is a succulent plant plant of a large botanical genus of the same name, belonging to the family Agavaceae....
 family Agavaceae
Agavaceae

Agavaceae is a family of plants that includes many well-known desert and dry zone types such as the agave, yucca, and Yucca brevifolia. The family includes about 550-600 species in around 18 genus, and is widespread in the tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions of the world....
, notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 and large terminal clusters of white or whitish flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s. They are native to the hot and dry (arid) parts of North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, Central America
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
, South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, and the West Indies.

Yuccas have a very specialized pollination
Pollination

Pollination in flowering plants and gymnosperms is the process that transfers pollen, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself....
 system, being pollinated by the yucca moth
Prodoxidae

Prodoxidae is a family of primitive monotrysian Lepidoptera. Some of these small-to-medium sized moths are day flying, like Lampronia capitella, known to European gardeners as the "Currant Shoot Borer"....
; the insect purposefully transfers the pollen from the stamens of one plant to the stigma of another, and at the same time lays an egg in the flower; the moth larva then feeds on some of the developing seeds, but far from all.

Yuccas are widely grown as ornamental plant
Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, Plant stem and bark....
s in gardens. Many yuccas also bear edible parts, including fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
s, seed
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s, flowers, flowering stems
Plant stem

A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaf, inflorescence , conifer cones or other stems etc....
, and more rarely root
Root

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial root or aerating ....
s, but use of these is sufficiently limited that references to yucca as food more often than not stem from confusion with the similarly spelled but botanically unrelated yuca
Cassava

The cassava, cassadaIn page 25, Darwin says "Mandioca or cassada is likewise cultivated in great quantity."See it also in ,yuca, 'manioc, 'mogo...
.

Dried yucca has the lowest ignition temperature of any wood, making it desirable for fire-starting.

The "yucca flower" is the state flower
List of U.S. state flowers

This is a list of U.S. state flowers:See also*List of U.S. state trees*Lists of U.S. state insigniaReferences *...
 of New Mexico
New Mexico

New Mexico is a U. S. State located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. Inhabited by Native Americans in the United States populations for many centuries, it has also has been part of the Spanish Empire viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S....
. No species name is given in the citation.

Distribution


The natural distribution range of the genus Yucca (49 species and 24 subspecies) covers a vast area of north- and central America. From Baja California in the west, northwards into the southwestern USA, through the drier central states as far north as Canada (Alberta province, Yucca glauca ssp. albertana), and moving east along the Gulf of Mexico, and then north again, through the Atlantic coastal and inland neighbouring states. To the south, the genus is represented throughout Mexico and extends into Guatemala (Yucca elephantipes). Yuccas have adapted to an equally vast range of climatic and ecological conditions. They are to be found in rocky deserts and badlands, in prairies and grassland, in mountainous regions, in light woodland, in coastal sands (Yucca filamentosa), and even in sub-tropical and semi-temperate zones, although these are nearly always arid to semi-arid.

Species


Yucca aloifolia Aloe yucca, Spanish Bayonet
Yucca Brevifolia Flower
 Yucca brevifolia Joshua tree
Yucca constricta Buckley's yucca
Yucca Baccata Whole
Yucca Baccata Close
 Yucca baccata Banana yucca, datil
Yucca Decipiens
Yucca Decipiens 2
 Yucca decipiens Palma China
Yucca Elata Blooming
Yucca Elata Flowers
 Yucca elata Soaptree yucca
Yukka Filamentosa
Yucca Filamentosa1
 Yucca filamentosa
Yucca filamentosa

Yucca filamentosa, commonly known as Adam's needle, is a medicinal plant native to eastern North America.Usually trunkless Yucca filamentosa is a sucker plant with heads of 30 inch long, filamentous, blue green strappy leaf....
 		 Spoonleaf yucca, Filament yucca, or Adam's Needle
Yucca filifera Palma Chuna yucca
Yucca flaccida Flaccid leaf yucca
Yucca glauca Great Plains yucca
Yucca gloriosa
Yucca gloriosa

Yucca gloriosa is an evergreen shrub of the family Agavaceae, and of the genus Yucca. Common names include Spanish Dagger, Moundlily Yucca, Soft-tipped Yucca, Spanish Bayonet or Sea Islands Yucca....
 		 Moundlily yucca, Adam's needle, Spanish Dagger
Yucca grandiflora Sahuiliqui yucca
Yucca guatemalensis
Yucca guatemalensis

Yucca guatemalensis , is the tallest of the Yucca species of the family Agavaceae. Common names for this species include spineless yucca, soft-tip yucca, blue-stem yucca and giant yucca....
 		 Spineless yucca
Yucca harrimaniae Harriman's yucca
Yucca intermedia Intermediate Yucca
Yucca jaliscensis Izote
Yucca kanabensis Kanab yucca
Yucca lacandonica Tropical yucca
Yucca madrensis Soco yucca
Yucca nana Dwarf yucca
Yucca Pallida
 Yucca pallida
Yucca pallida

Yucca pallida, sometimes called Pale yucca, is a species of yucca native to parts of the Blackland Prairies of northern and central Texas, and notable for its light-colored Leaf that range from a pale blue-gray to sage-green in color....
 		 Pale yucca
Yucca periculosa Izote
Yucca recurvifolia
Yucca recurvifolia

Yucca recurvifolia is an ornamental plant native to the southeastern United States....
 		 Curve-leaf yucca
Yucca rigida Blue yucca
Yucca rostrata
Yucca rostrata

Yucca rostrata, also called Beaked yucca, is a tree-like plant belonging to the Yucca genus native to southern United States and northern Mexico....
 		 Big Bend yucca
Yucca rupicola Texas yucca, or Twist-leaf yucca
Yucca Schidigera Blooming
 Yucca schidigera Mojave yucca
Yucca schottii Hoary yucca or Mountain yucca
Yucca standleyi
Yucca Brooklyn
 Yucca thompsoniana Thompson's Yucca
Yucca thornberi
Yucca torreyi Torrey yucca
Yucca treculiana Texas bayonette, Trecul's yucca
Yucca valida Datilillo
Yucca yucatana Yucatan yucca


A number of other species previously classified in Yucca are now classified in the genera Dasylirion
Dasylirion

Dasylirion is a genus of 17 species of flowering plants in the family Ruscaceae, all native to Mexico, with three species also extending into the southwestern United States....
, Furcraea
Furcraea

Furcraea is a genus of succulent plants belonging to the family Agavaceae, native to tropical regions of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America....
, Hesperaloe
Hesperaloe

Hesperaloe is a genus of perennial yucca-like plants classified in the flowering plant family Agavaceae . The plants have long, narrow leaves produced in a basal rosette and flowers borne on long panicles or racemes....
, Hesperoyucca
Hesperoyucca

Hesperoyucca is a small genus of three species of flowering plants in the family Agavaceae, closely related to and recently split from Yucca, but distinct in having dehiscent fruit and a scape more than 2.5 cm diameter with reflexed bracts....
 and Nolina
Nolina

Nolina is a genus of plants in classified variously in the Nolinaceae, Agavaceae, Ruscaceae, or Asparagaceae, depending upon how those families are circumscribed....
.

Taxonomic arrangement

  • Section Yucca formerly Sarcocarpa Engelm.
    • Series Faxonianae Hochstätter
      • Yucca carnerosana (Trel.
        William Trelease

        William Trelease was a United States botanist, entomologist, explorer, writer and educator. HeTrelease graduated B.S. from Cornell University in 1880....
        ) McKelvey
      • Yucca faxoniana (Trel.) Sarg.
        Charles Sprague Sargent

        Charles Sprague Sargent was an United States botanist. He was the first director of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University, and the standard botanical author abbreviation Sarg. is applied to plants he described....
    • Series Baccatae Hochstätter
      • Yucca baccata Torr.
        John Torrey

        John Torrey was an United States botany.Torrey was born in New York. When he was 15 or 16 years of age his father received a prison appointment at Greenwich, and there he made the acquaintance of Amos Eaton, a pioneer of natural history studies in America....
        • Yucca baccata Torr. ssp. baccata
        • Yucca baccata Torr. ssp. vespertina (McKelvey) Hochstätter
        • Yucca baccata Torr. ssp. thornberi (McKelvey) Hochstätter
      • Yucca confinis McKelvey
      • Yucca endlichiana Trel.
      • Yucca arizonica McKelvey
    • Series Treculianae Hochstätter
      • Yucca grandiflora Gentry
        Howard Scott Gentry

        Howard Scott Gentry was an United States botanist recognized as the world's leading authority on the agaves.He worked for the United States Department of Agriculture, and was a research botanist with the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona after 1971....
      • Yucca declinata Laferr.
      • Yucca treculiana Carriere
      • Yucca torreyi Shafer
        John Adolph Shafer

        John Adolph Shafer was an United States botanist....
      • Yucca schidgera Roezl
        Benedikt Roezl

        Benedikt Roezl Czech traveller, gardener and botanist. Probably the most famous collector of orchids of his time. Despite the loss of a hand, Roezl travelled the world and discovered over 800 species of orchid, with more than forty named in his honour....
         ex Ortgies
      • Yucca schotti Engelm.
      • Yucca capensis Lenz
      • Yucca jaliscensis Trel.
      • Yucca periculosa Baker
        John Gilbert Baker

        John Gilbert Baker was an England botanist.Baker was born in Guisborough. He worked at the library and herbarium of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew between 1866 and 1899, and was keeper of the herbarium from 1890 to 1899....
      • Yucca mixtecana Garcia-Mend.
      • Yucca decipiens Trel.
      • Yucca valida Brandegee
      • Yucca potosina Rzed.
        Jerzy Rzedowski

        Jerzy Rzedowski is a Mexican botany. He was born in Lw?w, Poland . He is married to the botanist Graciela Calder?n de Rzedowski.Rzedowski is the author of Vegetaci?n de M?xico , Flora Fanerog?mica del Valle de M?xico , and Flora del Baj?o y de Regiones Adyacentes ....
      • Yucca filifera Chabaud
    • Series Gloriosae Hochstätter
      • Yucca gloriosa
        Yucca gloriosa

        Yucca gloriosa is an evergreen shrub of the family Agavaceae, and of the genus Yucca. Common names include Spanish Dagger, Moundlily Yucca, Soft-tipped Yucca, Spanish Bayonet or Sea Islands Yucca....
         L.
      • Yucca recurvifolia
        Yucca recurvifolia

        Yucca recurvifolia is an ornamental plant native to the southeastern United States....
         Salisb.
        Richard Anthony Salisbury

        Richard Anthony Salisbury Fellow of the Royal Society was a United Kingdom botanist. He was born in Leeds, England, the son of Richard Markham....
    • Series Yucca
      • Yucca madrensis Gentry
      • Yucca linearifolia Clary
      • Yucca elephantipes Regel
      • Yucca lacandonica Gomez-Pompa & Valdes
      • Yucca aloifolia L.
      • Yucca yucatana Engelm.
  • Section Clistocarpa Engelm.
      • Yucca brevifolia Engelm.)
        • Yucca brevifolia Engelm. ssp. brevifolia
        • Yucca brevifolia Engelm. ssp. jaegeriana (McKelvey) Hochstätter
        • Yucca brevifolia Engelm. ssp. herbertii (Webber
          Herbert John Webber

          Herbert John Webber was an United States Plant physiology who was born in Lawton, Michigan and grew up on a farm in Marshalltown, Iowa, originally wanting to be a lawyer....
          ) Hochstätter
  • Section Chaenocarpa Engelm.
    • Series Filamentosae Hochstätter
      • Yucca filamentosa
        Yucca filamentosa

        Yucca filamentosa, commonly known as Adam's needle, is a medicinal plant native to eastern North America.Usually trunkless Yucca filamentosa is a sucker plant with heads of 30 inch long, filamentous, blue green strappy leaf....
         L.
        • Yucca filamentosa L. ssp. filamentosa
        • Yucca filamentosa L. ssp. smalliana (Fernald
          Merritt Lyndon Fernald

          Merritt Lyndon Fernald was an United States botanist. In his time he was regarded as the most respected scholar of the taxonomy and phytogeography of the vascular plant flora of temperate eastern North America....
          ) Hochstätter
        • Yucca filamentosa L. ssp. concava (Haw.
          Adrian Hardy Haworth

          Adrian Hardy Haworth was an English entomologist, botanist and carcinologist.He was the son of Benjamin Haworth of Haworth Hall. He was educated by tutors and steered towards a career in law, but had little interest in the profession and after inheriting the estate of his parents, devoted all his time to natural history....
          ) Hochstätter
      • Yucca flaccida Haw.
    • Series Rupicolae Hochstätter
      • Yucca cernua Keith
        James Keith

        James Keith may refer to:* James Keith, TV Reporter/Anchor for Fox News* James Francis Edward Keith* Ambassador James Keith, US Ambassador to Malaysia...
      • Yucca pallida
        Yucca pallida

        Yucca pallida, sometimes called Pale yucca, is a species of yucca native to parts of the Blackland Prairies of northern and central Texas, and notable for its light-colored Leaf that range from a pale blue-gray to sage-green in color....
         McKelvey
      • Yucca queretaroensis Pina Lujan
      • Yucca reverchonii Trel.
      • Yucca rigida (Engelm.) Trel.
      • Yucca rostrata
        Yucca rostrata

        Yucca rostrata, also called Beaked yucca, is a tree-like plant belonging to the Yucca genus native to southern United States and northern Mexico....
         Engelm. ex Trel.
      • Yucca rupicola Scheele
      • Yucca thompsoniana Trel.
    • Series Harrimaniae Hochstätter
      • Yucca harrimaniae Trel.
        • Yucca harrimaniae Trel. ssp. harrimaniae
        • Yucca harrimaniae Trel. ssp. neomexicana (Wooton & Standl.
          Paul Carpenter Standley

          Paul Carpenter Standley was an American botany.Standley was born in Avalon, Missouri. He attended Drury College in Springfield, Massachusetts and New Mexico State College, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1907, and received a masters degree from New Mexico State College in 1908, where he remained as an assistant from 1908-1909....
          ) Hochstätter
        • Yucca harrimaniae Trel. ssp. sterilis (Neese & Welsh) Hochstätter
        • Yucca harrimaniae Trel. ssp. gilbertiana (Trel.) Hochstätter
      • Yucca nana Hochstätter
    • Series Glaucae (McKelvey) Hochstätter
      • Yucca angustissima Engelm. ex Trel.
        • Yucca angustissima Engelm. ex Trel. ssp. angustissima
        • Yucca angustissima Engelm. ex Trel. ssp. toftiae (Welsh) Hochstätter
        • Yucca angustissima Engelm. ex Trel. ssp. kanabensis (McKelvey) Hochstätter
        • Yucca angustissima Engelm. ex Trel. ssp. avia (Reveal) Hochstätter
      • Yucca baileyi Wooton & Standl.
        • Yucca baileyi Wooton & Standl. ssp. baileyi
        • Yucca baileyi Wooton & Standl. ssp. intermedia (McKelvey) Hochstätter
      • Yucca coahuilensis Matuda & Pinja Lujan
      • Yucca elata Engelm.
        • Yucca elata Engelm. ssp. elata
        • Yucca elata Engelm. ssp. utahensis (McKelvey) Hochstätter
        • Yucca elata Engelm. ssp. verdiensis (McKelvey) Hochstätter
      • Yucca glauca Nutt.
        Thomas Nuttall

        Thomas Nuttall was an England botany and zoologist, who lived and worked in America from 1808 until 1841.Nuttall was born in the village of Long Preston, near Settle in the West Riding of Yorkshire and spent some years as an apprentice printer in England....
        • Yucca glauca Nutt. ssp. glauca
        • Yucca glauca Nutt. ssp. stricta (Sims
          John Sims

          John Sims was a taxonomist who classified various species of plants.He was the first editor of The Botanical Magazine after the founder, William Curtis....
          ) Hochstätter
        • Yucca glauca Nutt. ssp. albertana Hochstätter
      • Yucca campestris McKelvey
      • Yucca constricta Buckley
        Samuel Botsford Buckley

        Samuel Botsford Buckley was an United States natural history.References...
      • Yucca arkansana Trel.
        • Yucca arkansana Trel. ssp. arkansana
        • Yucca arkansana Trel. ssp. louisianensis (Trel.) Hochstätter
        • Yucca arkansana Trel. ssp. freemanni (Shinners) Hochstätter
  • Section Hesperoyucca Engelm.
      • Yucca whipplei Torr.
        • Yucca whipplei Torr. ssp. whipplei
        • Yucca whipplei Torr. ssp. caespitosa (Jones
          William Jones

          William Jones is the name of:...
          ) Haines
        • Yucca whipplei Torr. ssp. intermedia Haines
        • Yucca whipplei Torr. ssp. percursa Haines
        • Yucca whipplei Torr. ssp. newberryi (McKelvey) Hochstätter
        • Yucca whipplei Torr. ssp. eremica Epling & Haines


Cultivars

In the years from 1897 to 1907, Carl Ludwig Sprenger
Carl Ludwig Sprenger

Carl Ludwig Sprenger was a Germany botanist, born on 30 November 1846 at G?strow, Mecklenburg and died 13 December 1917 on the island of Corfu....
 created and named 122 Yucca hybrids.

Other facts

Because of their omnipresence in the southwestern United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, yuccas have lent their name to several places:
  • Yucca, Arizona
    Yucca, Arizona

    Yucca is an unincorporated area in Mohave County, Arizona, Arizona, United States. Located along Interstate 40 in Arizona, it lies southwest of Kingman, Arizona, just east of the southern section of the Black Mountains and west of the Hualapai and McCracken Mountains in the Sacramento Valley ....
  • Yucca Valley, California
    Yucca Valley, California

    Yucca Valley is an List of cities in California located in San Bernardino County, California, California, United States. The population was 16,865 at the 2000 census....
  • Yucca Mountain
    Yucca Mountain

    From 1987 to 2009, Yucca Mountain Repository was the proposed United States Department of Energy deep geological repository storage facility for Spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste....
    , Nevada
    Nevada

    Nevada is a U.S. state located in the Western United States of the United States of America. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas, Nevada....
  • Yucca House National Monument
    Yucca House National Monument

    Yucca House National Monument is a United States National Monument located in Montezuma County, Colorado, Colorado, United States. Yucca House is a large, unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site....


Yuccas are .

Yucca plants and Yucca moths have a Mutualistic relationship
Mutualism

Mutualism is a biological interaction between two organisms, where each individual derives a fitness benefit, for example increased survivorship....
. Yucca plants are dependent on Yucca moths for pollination and Yucca moths can only lay their eggs in a Yucca plant's flower. The Yucca moth lays its eggs in the yucca plant at the same time pollinating it. The moth makes sure not to lay too many eggs in each flower to prevent the larva from eating all of the Yucca seeds. This is the Yucca plant's only means of pollination, as it cannot pollinate itself.

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