Red Yucca

Hesperaloe parviflora

red yucca blooming at Academy Village

About the Plant

Red yucca, a native of Texas and adjacent Mexico, is a popular landscape plant in the Southwest. Its stiff, evergreen leaves add architectural interest year-round. In late spring, tall stalks reaching up to 10 feet produce showy red flowers that can continue until fall. Yellow-flowered selections are available.

Grow red yucca in full sun. It needs little care from you other than to remove the flower stalks when flowering ends. The leaves should never be trimmed except to remove any that are brown and dead. Supplemental irrigation increases the size of the plant. A few deep irrigations in the hottest, driest portion of the summer may improve appearance.

WARNING: Red yuccas, even large, well-established plants, are frequent targets of javelinas (see photo below). Grow this plant where it is protected by a wall or fence. A large, sturdy circle of chicken wire may offer some protection.

Notes:

  • The flowers of red yucca may attract aphids (photo below). Remove these insects with a strong stream of water.

  • Rabbits and deer may eat young plants.
  • Red yucca is not a "true yucca"; that is, it is not in the genus Yucca. The rounded form of the plant, together with the long, slender leaves, may have given rise to the common name.

Wildlife value: Red yucca attracts hummingbirds. In its native habitat, it is pollinated by hummingbirds, bees, bats, and hawk moths.

More Information

Weekly Plant on red yucca

Horticultural information from ASU

Map of distribution in US (yellow indicates plant is rare)

In books:

Native Plants for Southwestern Landscapes by Judy Mielke, page 162

Agaves, Yuccas, and Related Plants by Mary and Gary Irish, page 212

ID Characteristics 

This plant is in the Asparagaceae - the asparagus family.
Red yucca grows as a stemless rosette of leaves. A well-grown plant can reach 4 feet high and 5-6 feet wide before flowering. The flower stalk can reach up to 6 feet above the leaves (10 feet total), but is often less. Red yucca grows wider by producing additional rosettes around the base of the plant.
The leaves of red yucca are long and slender, 3-4 feet in length, about half an inch wide and pointed on the end. They are stiff and hard but the point is usually soft. It is easy to see the veins running the length of the leaf. The two leaf edges roll toward each other so the leaf has a round appearance. An excellent ID characteristic is the presence of white filaments that curl away from the smooth edge of the leaf.
The flower stalk may be erect or arched or may lean with the prevailing wind. It is often tinged red-purple. The tubular flowers are arranged up and down the flower stalk, each about an inch long. Each flower has 6 separate tepals, red on the outside, often yellowish on the inside and flaring outward at the tip. Outer color can vary from deep red to coral and pink and all-yellow selections are known. Flowering can begin as early as April and continue into fall.
The 1-inch fruit is a multi-section capsule, green aging to brown, with little ornamental value.