Yucca Tree Varieties

Trunks

• Some species in the genus Yucca have thick trunks. For instance, spineless yucca (Y. elephantipes) grows on a single trunk which is up to 4 feet in diameter, according to the University of Florida IFAS Extension. However, sprouts occasionally emerge from the base of these plants creating several trunks. Y. rigida also grows several trunks. Another tall yucca, the Joshua tree (Y. brevifolia), grows trunks that are 1 to 3 feet wide, fibrous and have thick bases, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Size

• Sometimes reaching heights of nearly 30 feet, Y. filifera is one of the tallest and most quickly growing yuccas, according to Tropical Centre nursery. Growing just as high, Y. elephantipes spreads to 15 feet. Some Joshua trees dwarf these two species by growing up to 70 feet tall. A smaller yucca tree is Palma China (Y. decipiens), which grows to 20 feet with a spread of up to 10 feet.

Branches

• When Mormons migrated west during the 1800s, they are said to have named the Joshua tree after a biblical character because they thought the limbs appeared to be stretched out in prayer, according to the National Park Service. The soap tree (Y. elata), which grows in the Chihuahuan Desert, also can grow branches that resemble arms, according to the University of Arizona Extension. A flower stalk emerges in the middle of its branches, rising 4 to 6 feet above the leaves.

Leaves

• The Spanish bayonet (Y. Aloifolia) grows up to 20 feet tall with sword-like leaves that are sharp enough to ward off burglars when under windows, according to Floridata. The spikes can inflict wounds through thick layers of clothes. Also, the inflexible, blue leaves of the tree-like Y. Rigida have brown spines at their tips and miniature teeth, according to Tropical Centre. When cultivated, these leaves can grow up to four feet long.