Yukka
Yucca gloriosa L. is a genus of tree—like evergreen plants of the Agave subfamily (Agavoideae) of the Asparagus family (Asparagaceae). Previously, this genus was included in the subfamily Dracaenoideae of the Lily family (Liliaceae) or in the Agave family (Agavaceae). The stem is woody, sometimes tree-branched. The leaves are crowded at the ends of the trunk or branches, linear-lanceolate, pointed. The flowers are quite large, bell-shaped, white, hanging on short pedicels, form a multi-flowered panicle. Tepals (6 of them) are free or somewhat connected at the base. Stamens are shorter than the perianth. Ovary with numerous ovules. The column is short, with 3 lobes of the stigma. The fruit is a box or a fleshy berry. There are about 20 species in the southern United States, Mexico and Central America. Many species are bred, enduring the winter in the open air in the south of Europe. In Russia, it can be found on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus from Gelendzhik to Adler (Sochi), in Abkhazia and on the Southern coast of Crimea. Pollination of yucca flowers, in particular, Yucca filamentosa, is performed by females of small moths Tegeticula yuccasella. The flowers open at night, and female butterflies flock to their fragrance, which, with the help of large maxilla tentacles, collect sticky pollen of the plant. After flying to another flower, the insect lays eggs in the ovary and then places a lump of pollen in the recess of the stigma, thus pollinating. Caterpillars feed on young seeds, but eat only part of the seeds, while the rest of the seeds ripen. The symbiosis of yucca and Tegeticula yuccasella explains the fact that in European gardens, where this butterfly species is not found, yucca almost never bears fruit.
To the Tashkent Botanical Garden Yucca gloriosa L. the seeds of the species are F.N. Rusanov tobacco was brought in 1957 for the purpose of introduction and planted in nurseries. Germination from seeds was unub in March 1957, and young sprouts were transplanted into the North American ecisposition in 1958. Currently, 3 of this species is growing in equisposition.
