Unfortunately, I’ve never seen fruit on this banana yucca in UBC Botanical Garden, so I can’t give an account of the taste.
Yucca baccata is native to the southwestern USA and adjacent Chihuahua, Mexico. Yucca contains approximately 50 species, most of which have dry and hard capsules as fruits. Yucca baccata is an exception, developing a soft, fleshy fruit. The fruit can be eaten raw (it is slightly sweet), but roasting the fruit will break down the starches in the fruit and significantly increase the sugar content (much like sweet potatoes). For a photograph of the fruit (and flowers), see the USDA Forest Service’s page on Yucca baccata. The USDA site also discusses the traditional methods of processing the fruit by the indigenous peoples of the region. The Forest Service also provides a different factsheet about Yucca baccata, going into detail about the ecological requirements and associated species.
Today’s photographs were taken today (!). I’m learning how to use a new camera; it’s lightweight, portable, and doesn’t require me to tote a camera bag back and forth between home and work. The black and white images are part of experimenting with it.
Sony Alpha series?
Fuji X100F. I’ve looked into the Sony a bit, but that would be a wholesale replacement should I ever do that.
We have a lot of Century plants and yucca around this area. Sharp points.
Having just returned from the Mohave desert, this is a timely BPOD. We saw way more Mohave yuccas than these, and of course it wasn’t the right time of year for flower OR fruit, sadly. Mark asks if you got a Sony – I want to know what you decided on, too! I’m happy with my Olympus mirrorless, which is small enough, very flexible, and even “weather resistant,” which came in handy when it rained in the desert. So far, it’s gotten fairly wet with no issues.
That’s one of the flaws with the X100F–not even listed as weather-resistant. However, that’s what I have the Canon system for (and it has done admirably). If I’m road-tripping, I would take both with me.
It’s great to have the extra flexibility. I don’t know much at all about the X100F but I bet you’re having fun experimenting with some of the features. (Give us some dry weather and we’ll have even more fun….).
Native americans plaited the fibers on the leaf margins into stout cord used to make sandals.