Duncan, I've only had this little guy for a year, I think he was a year old when received.
That little trunk wasn't there in the spring (for sure).
Just noticed it so it must have grown this year?

Hey you both make a good point...long and flaccid leaves!

While there are great pics on that website, they're all of MATURE specimens.

So, brevifolia? elata? a cross? 😕

How to solve the mystery?
Barb

So, brevifolia? elata? a cross? 😕

How to solve the mystery?
Barb

I think it elata x because of the hairs/fibers on the the leaves, bevifolia does not have fibers on the leaves. If it is a cross between the two it will be an awesome site when older. 😀
Where did you get the seed from?

Ooooh, an elata x sounds interesting.
Will have to look up hardiness.

Didn't germinate this one (only one of my germinated rostratas is still alive).
Got it from John last year.
Was soooooo happy to get that.
Those hairs/fibers just showed up this year...very cool.

Duncan, your brevifolia is beautiful, leaves look substantial at the base.

Maybe Paul and Josef can give us their ID experience.
Barb

Hi All,

I purchased my brevifolia (what I hope are brevifolia, anyway) seeds through U.S. sellers on eBay. I'm starting to wonder if my seedlings are pure brevifolia, or brevifolia at all. They are definetly yuccas of some sort, but on some plants the leaves strike me as being too long and flaccid to be brevifolia. Maybe it's too early to tell? What do you guys think?

Thanks!

Duncan

I think you have a pure j-tree in the pic. Leaves on young j-trees and seedlings are long and soft compared to older ones. It also takes about 3-5 years from seed for them to start a nice trunk. Becareful with the fertilizer, this can make a faster growing trunk but skinny and weak.

Sheesh...more research, can get lost in this comprehensive one:

http://www.bennyskaktus.dk/Y_hybrids.htm#wild

Barb,
Not sure about this one, neither of the plants you've shown look anything like a Josua tree. But, Yucca seedling phenotype is very plastic, and can look completely different from adult plants. That said, if I had to guess I'd say that neither of those plants are Yucca brevifolia. As for what they actually are... Maybe elata? Maybe glauca? Maybe some hybrid? Certainly they are one of the narrower leaved Western Yucca, but for a concrete I.D. we'll have to wait until they are older. Can you give other info: i.e. are he leaves firm? do they have any teeth (even minute)? are the surfaces smooth?

Here are a few of my own shots from when my Yucca were much smaller, might help with I.D.
Yucca elata, seedlings tend to be 'droopy', but not all will show this trait.
<img src=" " alt="IMGP0037">
Yucca brevifolia. I miss him:(
<img src=" " alt="IMGP0038">
Yucca baccata, still looking for one that will be hardy long term here in the wet east.
<img src=" " alt="Small baccata">

I think you have a pure j-tree in the pic. Leaves on young j-trees and seedlings are long and soft compared to older ones. It also takes about 3-5 years from seed for them to start a nice trunk. Becareful with the fertilizer, this can make a faster growing trunk but skinny and weak.

Thanks Aaron! Patience, patience....I want a JT like yours! I'll watch the fertilizer.

Duncan

Leaves are long, firm but whippy in the wind. Minor twisting vs. Paul's young example.
Smooth leaves with no feel of any teeth.
Leaf edges very thin necrotic-looking band, which breaks creating filaments.

Considerable woody trunk for such a youngster. Striking blue leaves.

Could it be Y.constricta? second pic down on this link:

Only time will tell, but not taking any chances with cold hardiness.
It's coming in at -5C.

I feel for you on the Y.brevi...loss.

Thanks for your input folks.
Barb

Barb I believe I gave you that Joshua tree summer last? I grew them from seed so they are pure "Yucca Brevifolia". They start out with very pliable needle leafs for the first three years or so depending where they are grown. I think you will start to see them turn into blood spears soon!LOL.

John

Glad to hear that John.
Yup, that's the one you gave me last year.

I'm amazed it's starting to trunk so young...

Are yours beginning to trunk too?
Thanks.
Barb

John, I hope you're right, I'd hate to think someone was selling improperly labelled seed (though this is not unprecedented...).

You can see the second year leaves on my former brevifolia if you look at the bottom of the plant (the yellow ones). They were certainly firm and mature when I planted it out. I don't recall there being much of a tender leaf phase on my brevifolia seedlings (there must have been), nor do I recall the leaves 'shrinking' to normal size after an intial elongation. Do you have a book ref. or website that you could direct me to for that? If it's true, I'd be interested to read about it! I should also say, that it's been a few years since I attempted to germinate and Joshua tree seeds (though I did collect C. 30 of them in Southwestern Utah last fall, maybe I should try these...). I do know that juvenile Yucca leaves are more succulent that mature ones, but I don't know of an example where the adult leaves are smaller then the juvenile ones. Here is an Aussie ebay site which details the growth of small J-trees, which grow their maturesque leaves well within a year: http://reviews.ebay.com.au/Growing-Yucca-and-Agave-from-seed_W0QQugidZ10000000004410217

For some descriptions of different Yucca see the book by the Irish's.
Yucca brevifolia leaves: the ridgid leaves, 6-14in long, range in colour from gray-green to light blue-green. They are sharp pointed with minute teeth along the margin (serrate) and are whitish in colour. The only similar specie slisted is Y. jalisccensis, but this species has larger leaves with no filaments.

Yucca elata: leaves are thin and flexible, up to 3ft long. White margins are composedof numerous filaments which are most easily visible near the leaf bases. When young Y. elata is difficultto distinguish from Y. angustissima, Y. glauca. Also similar to Y. rostrata.

Y. rostrata: Has yellow filaments so it's out.

Yucca glauca: Very narrow, up to 36inches. Grey-green in colour and bordered by white filaments which are most abundant near the leaf base. Similar to many Western acaulescent species (Y. angusstissima, baileyi, constricta, kanabensis, etc.).

I'm guessing that this plant is growing in a container outdoors in the summer, so light isn't causing it to become etoliated. I wonder if it's not a glauca v. stricta? They are known to form short above ground trunks of small diameter. I must admit that I've never seen even a glauca form a trunk that narrow and with such a small head of leaves. Maybe what we're actually looking at is an extension of the roots, because even with the modified 'secondary thickening' found in J-trees, I can't see that forming a natural looking Y. brevifolia trunk.

So, my vote is for glauca, anyone care to argue the opposite side?

Barb I believe I gave you that Joshua tree summer last? I grew them from seed so they are pure "Yucca Brevifolia". They start out with very pliable needle leafs for the first three years or so depending where they are grown. I think you will start to see them turn into blood spears soon!LOL.

John

John,
Did that seed came from the wild, and if so what area? If it came from the wild it must be have crossed with something else. J-trees also have very small saw like teeth along the edges of the leaves, and I don't see any from the pic and they don't have fiber threads on the edge of the leaves.
Very cool if it came straight off a j-tree. 8)

Hate to say it Barb, but it doesn't look like a pure JT to me. Maybe a cross?

Which would be cool. 8) You just have to wait and see.

Here's a JT I grew from seed. Sorry it's a bad pic.

All the Joshuas I have had have sharp saw like teeth on the edges and shorter leaves
like Aaron pointed out.

-Jay

Super cool discussion folks! After reading this topic this morning, I though I remembered reading somewhere that brevifolia can not be crossed-in nature or by man. There's a guy in Denmark named Benny Moller Jensen who does extensive yucca crossing. I though I read on his website that brevifolia crosses are not possible. While I can't find this again, his site does have an extensive list of man-made and naturally occuring hybrids-none of which involve brevifolia.

http://www.bennyskaktus.dk/yucca-hybrids-21st_-century.html

I don't think brevifolia crosses exist. If anyone has definitive proof to the contrary, I'd love to see it (I'd love to be wrong about this-make me a glauca x brevifolia!!!)! So, I think, Barb's plant is either brevifolia, or not at all. After looking at John's JTs (from the same seed http://okanaganpalms.multiply.com/photos/album/10#photo=56) again, you can see how the bigger specimens start to look more like JTs as they're found in their natural habitiat. The small one on the far right looks just like Barb's plant, I think. I've noticed that many cultivated JT specimens take on a different look: greener and longer leaves and a more chaotic leaf pattern, it seems. Perhaps more nutrients account for the greener appearance. Anyhow, I say Barb's plant is JT-under unique growing conditions (more nutrients, Canadian sun angle etc.).:o

Thanks!

Duncan

I think I have seen a pic of a j-tree and a baccata x, but now I can't find it. 😡 If Barb has a j-tree cross it would be a very wanted plant, especially if it was crossed with a elata. 😛