Brush - Range & Pasture - Yucca

BES-TEX BRUSH ID GUIDE

Yucca

Yucca spp.

Perennial Evergreen Brush

Plant Type

Woody-stemmed plant; lily family (Liliaceae)

Life Cycle

Perennial

Leaf Habit

Evergreen

Typical Height

[PLACEHOLDER]

Photo Gallery

Yucca clump of stiff, narrow leaves with stalks of green seed pods — **Whole Plant with Fruit** Photo: DouglasGoldman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Yucca rosette of narrow, spine-tipped blue-green leaves — **Leaf Whorl** Photo: Nick, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to Identify It

Quick ID

Leaves

Many leaves from the base, long, narrow, and spine-tipped
Thin and limp or thick and rigid (Texas A&M)

Stems

Woody trunk above ground or thick, mostly underground stems (Texas A&M)

Flowers

Large white to cream or greenish flowers on a tall stalk (Texas A&M)

Fruit

Flattened, usually blackish seeds; dry or fleshy fruit (Texas A&M)

Look-Alikes

Sotol

How to tell it apart from yucca: [PLACEHOLDER]

Counter script: "If it is a clump of long, stiff, spine-tipped leaves with a tall stalk of white flowers, it is most likely yucca."

Where It Grows

Texas

More than 30 species in Texas; all 10 ecoregions (Texas A&M)

Oklahoma

[PLACEHOLDER]

New Mexico

[PLACEHOLDER]

Sites and soils: Most common in arid regions (Texas A&M).

Best Time to Control

Brush Busters whorl spray: spring or summer.

Yucca is a perennial. No pre-emergent herbicide controls yucca.

Treatment Methods

Whorl (Crown) Spray

Spray into the center whorl of leaves (Brush Busters)
Example product: Remedy Ultra (Corteva)
Mix (Brush Busters): 15% (19 oz + 109 oz diesel per gallon), or undiluted Remedy Ultra at 2 to 4 cc per whorl
PastureGard HL lists yucca crown treatment at 1% (label)

Individual Plant vs. Broadcast

Brush Busters methods are for individual plants
Density guidance: [PLACEHOLDER]

Product names are examples only. Always read and follow the product label. For product selection and help, contact BES-TEX at 325.653.1300.

Sources: Brush Busters: How to Take the Luck Out of Controlling Yucca (Texas A&M AgriLife) for Remedy Ultra mixes; PastureGard HL label, EPA Reg. No. 62719-637; Texas A&M Plants of Texas Rangelands.