Banana yucca (yucca baccata), "yucca" is a Caribbean name for the cassava plant. Baccata means "fruited," referring to the plant’s large fruits. The name banana yucca also refers to the large fruits. In wet years, when many yuccas bloom over the landscape, they resemble large snowy-white candles; hence, the plants may be called by another name, "Our Lord's candles." Unlike agaves, yuccas bloom each year (more or less), while agaves bloom only once. The plant has large, stout straplike leaves which are twelve inches to forty inches long, one inch to two inches wide, and are sharply pointed. Individual white fibers along the leaf margins tend to curl. Leaves are arranged spirally at the base of the stem. The plant has very short stems, which may occur singly or clumped together. The flowering stalks may barely rise above the leaves. Bell-shaped flowers, which grow in thick clusters during the spring, are one and one half inches to three and one half inches long and are creamy white in color. The fruits are large, four inches to nine inches long, and fleshy at maturity. It grows in pinyon-juniper, sagebrush, mountain brush and ponderosa pine communities from 4725 to 6620 feet in elevation. These pictures were taken at the Deer Creek trail head on March 16th, 2016.