19 Varieties of Yucca Plants You Can Add to Your Collection

Varieties of yucca plants are known for their large, spiky leaves that grow on thick woody stems belonging to the Asparagaceae family. Due to their beautiful palm tree look, yucca plants are ideal for ornamental landscape purposes.

Growing them in your backyard creates a tropical vibe that you will love. Here are some varieties you can add to your collection.

A List of Varieties of Yucca Plants

1. Adams Needle

Yucca Filamentosa is a variety of the flowering yucca that has beautiful blooms. It produces a dramatic tall stalk with massive clusters of dazzling white flowers reaching up to eight feet high. Its common name is needle and thread due to the thread-like growths on this plant.

If you wish to grow it well and see it thrive, you should make sure that you would place it in a location where it will receive proper sunlight, and water it only when the soil feels dry. To elaborate the latter even further, remember the plant does not like when the soil is wet, as the roots become weak.

2. Spineless Yucca Plant

Yucca Elephantipes is one of the tallest yucca plants you can grow, and this plant would at times start to bend when it grows so tall; hence it needs support. Its name comes from the lack of spines on the leaves. As the plant matures, its thick gray stem resembles an elephant’s foot; that’s why the botanical name is elephantipes.

This is the type of plant that is one of the best yucca plants to grow indoors as it has no spines. It grows slowly, taking many years to reach the mature height of five feet. It is one of the types that would show such a beautiful feature in the house, as long as you make sure to provide it with the right requirements, which are well-draining soil, and plenty of sunlight.

3. Spanish Bayonet

Yucca Aloifolia is one of the most ornamental of the yucca plant family; in addition, it is also called the dagger yucca and has long sword-like leaves. The leaves are not just sword-like, but they also have evergreen blades with sharp serration along the tip and margins, and they would show their beautiful pointy tips and smooth texture.

Though this plant prefers to grow in the coastal regions to complement other tropical trees, it also does well indoors. As long as they are in zones seven to 11 in the USDA hardiness regions, they will thrive; just make sure that you won’t overwater the plant, and do not place it under full sunlight.

4. Spanish Dagger

Yucca Gloriosa has a similar name among other yuccas by its features and how tall it grows. This variety can grow on sandy textured soil, and under warmer climates. It also features sword-like narrow dark green leaves and is multi-stemmed, and has beautiful white flowers with a purple-red hue.

It has several cultivars like a bright star and variegata, and some people also mistake it for the white yucca plant, because their leaves look similar, and their flower colors resemble as well. However, in order to see this plant growing and developing, you must place it under direct sunlight.

5. Red Yucca Plant

Hesperaloe parviflora is not a true yucca, but it does resemble one so much, but it grows from the soil and doesn’t have a trunk-like structure to stand on. It gets its name from how the bluish-green leaves turn reddish bronze during the cold season.

In addition, the red yucca plant produces dainty bell-shaped red or dark pink flowers. It is drought tolerant and best for growing in borders and pots.

On another note, it does not cause harm since it has no spines, but it can be toxic to humans and pets when ingested. When you place it under full sun, that when the plant will start to look red and brighter in its color.

6. Joshua Tree

Yucca Brevifolia is a fast-growing desert tree symbolic of the Mojave Desert, hence you would see the Joshua tree more commonly. It has a thick fibrous trunk that divides into thick branches.

It grows as tall as 49 feet, with the roots reaching for moisture. Moreover, the plant would also produce beautiful clusters of white flowers in late winter and early spring, and it would thrive with its beautiful thick trunk standing tall.

7. Soapweed Yucca Plant

Scientifically this plant is known as the yucca glauca, and it is a drought tolerant plant that commonly grows in deserts. It is also cold, and hardy, it can also withstand low temperatures.

It has small and sharp leaves and grows as a low shrub. It is also known as the Spanish Bayonet but a different species from the original bayonet.

This plant is known to grow at its full potential in zones of four to eight, and it would show its beautiful and narrow leaves when it does. Just make sure that you would water it when the soil is dry when you touch it, and the sunlight provided must be bright and direct.

8. Banana Yucca Plant

Yucca baccata or banana yucca plant is native to arid deserts in Mexico and the states of the US. It is one of the short spiky shrub that grows in the Mojave Desert, and this would indicate that it thrives in these locations and this type of environment.

It is distinct as it produces a banana-shaped fruit that appears after the blooms. The flower stalks of this species does not grow as tall as other yucca species.

9. Mojave Yucca Plant

Yucca schidigera is another type of yucca Spanish dagger. It is native to Mojave Desert and has dangerously sharp leaves. It is a type of Mojave yucca that grows up to 16 feet tall, and would also look like a medium-sized tree with spiked green crowns.

The sharp, stiff foliage is a yellowish-green or bluish-green color; of course this would vary. On the other hand, the white flowers are like the icing on the cake, with a purple tinge blossom, which would grow from 16 to 18 inches in their height.

10. Beaked Yucca Plant

Yucca rostrata is a spectacular single-stemmed yucca with stunning bluish-green leaves. These leaves have a way of radiating from the trunk’s top, which would add such a beautiful feature to the plant and would also add to the aesthetic of where it is located.

As if this is not enough, the flowers emerge with all royalty as a large cluster of white flowers at the top of the foliage. It can withstand very low temperatures making it ideal for cold areas.

11. Buckley’s Yucca Plant

Yucca constricta is an evergreen perennial shrub that does well in rocky, sandy soil in hot deserts. This plant is identified by its narrow twisting leaves, colored pale blue to dark green, as most of the time it would resemble the blue yucca plant because of its colors.

The Buckley’s yucca grows in stemless clumps between one and three feet tall. It is ideal for landscapes that have poor, infertile soil. The blooms rise from the middle of the plant when they appear, and they would add such a nice aesthetic feature.

12. Twisted Yucca

Yucca rupicola is also known as Texas yucca or rock yucca or twisted-leaf yucca. This plant has twisting sword-shaped leaves that are bright to dark green. It is one of the most popular species outdoors as it grows easily, as it is a drought-tolerant plant, that would require partial sunlight.

On another note, the twisted yucca has some sharp pointed edges that could hurt you if you are not careful when handling the plant. This is because it would grow in such a beautiful green color by showing off its long, smooth leaves.

13. Lord’s Candle Yucca

Yucca Whippel is an evergreen shrub that grows on the ground without a trunk, and it is known as the Lord’s candle yucca because it looks like long white candles. It has sharp bluish leaves with piercing serrated edges.

The blades can grow up to three feet long, making them dangerous, as it would grow to the height of three feet tall. On another note, this species of yucca dies after flowering, with the mother plant growing in its place.

14. Weak-leaf Yucca Plant

Yucca flaccida is also known as weak-leaf yucca because its leaves are always in a “tired” mood; in addition, it is related to the filamentosa and tends to have leaves that droop. It produces a mass of bell-shaped white flowers at the end of the long stems.

Cultivars of this yucca are garland gold or golden sword with a rosette growth of robust yellow and green leaves. The flowers that would bloom look like little bells, that are white in color, and soft in their texture; they often get pollinated by white yucca insects, such as moths, especially in springtime.

15. Adam’s Needle ‘Color Guard’

Yucca filamentosa ‘color guard‘ is a beautiful yucca tree, this is because it features yellow and green variegated leaves. The foliage of this yucca grows in a rosette form, showing such a beautiful aesthetic.

This plant grows as a clumping shrub with a large cluster of whitish flowers that emerge on a long stalk in June. This plant prefers growing in sandy soils and is ideal as a garden border. The sharp leaves are useful as they deter intruders and animals, which is a way that you can use to repel them out of your yard or lawn.

16. Adam’s Needle ‘Excalibur’

The name of this plant, scientifically, is yucca filamentosa ‘excalibur’ is a stunning yucca variety. It is also known as the thread yucca. It has stiff sword-shaped leaves that are blue-green to gray-green. The needle ‘excalibur’ has curly filaments growing among the foliage.

The bloom of this plant is the glory of this plant as it produces a large cluster of bell-shaped creamy white flowers. Plant it in the backyard, where you can create a dramatic statement, and you would see them also adding their beautiful color of blue yucca leaves around.

17. Aloe Yucca

Yucca aloifolia is a simple densely branched yucca of an erect arborescent species. It has sharp, pointed, rigid leaves with finely toothed margins. The leaves are fairly thin, dagger-shaped, and very sharp-tipped.

The stems are covered with old dry leaves, when it produces large and showy, waxy, and white-tinged purplish flowers; as this plant is best grown as an ornamental. Moreover, you can see it thrive at 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and it needs indirect sun that is also bright.

18. Common Yucca

Yucca filamentosa is a multi-suckering herbaceous perennial shrub that has no trunk. It has blue-green, strappy leaves that grow up to two feet long. It tolerates cold temperatures during winter but thrives under the full sun, and you would see it blooming little flowers that are white in their color in spring time.

19. Tree Yucca

Yucca filifera is a heavily branched yucca that grows tall. It has a massive spreading trunk that grows large with age. The leaves are straight and sword-shaped, growing in rosette-shaped bunches. It produces vibrant white flowers that hang over the plant.

Conclusion

Varieties of yucca plants are as many as seen in the above list, so you have no excuse now regarding how wide yucca varieties you can grow. Before you start your yucca plants, here are a few things you should remember:

• Most of the varieties do well under direct sunlight and tolerates very cold climate meaning the plant is hardy enough to tolerate harsh climates.
• These plants are easy to grow with less maintenance, even for new lovers who don’t know much about plants.
• All these varieties take a little neglect as they are hardy and do not require daily maintenance, making them the top plants for a busy gardener.
• Our favorite yucca plants include yucca gloriosa, red yucca, spineless yucca, Joshua tree, beaked yucca, and banana yucca.

Now you know all about all the varieties of these plants. As a result, you have no reason to grow the same old plants you have been growing; get some new-looking ones for that new vibe! Make sure to keep them away from your pets since it can affect your cat or dog if it gets eaten!

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