A closer look at Yucca torreyi

 

At Longhorn Cavern State Park on March 17th the Lady Eve found a Yucca torreyi with particularly fresh and photogenic flowers. I carefully reached in over the “bayonets” and made some portraits.

 

© 2023 Steven Schwartzman

 

 

 

Yucca torreyi

 

When we visited Longhorn Cavern State Park in January I made a mental note to return in the spring to check out the wildflowers on the property. That checking-out came on March 17th. As we approached along Park Road 4 we couldn’t help noticing some attractive Yucca torreyi plants in full flower, though unfortunately there weren’t safe places to pull over near them. Arriving at Longhorn Caverns, safety wasn’t the problem: finding an empty space in the unexpectedly crowded parking lots was. (Tour groups now numbered in the dozens, whereas our January tour consisted of a whopping four visitors.) I don’t think you’ll have any trouble understanding why two of the vernacular names for this yucca species are Spanish bayonet and Spanish dagger; the “Spanish” presumably goes back to the time when Mexico, including Texas, was a colony of Spain.

 

© 2023 Steven Schwartzman