Species · genus Yucca · Asparagaceae

Giant Spanish Dagger

Yucca carnerosana (Trel.) McKelvey

Growth habit

shrub or tree

Native range

Mexico Northeast

Yucca carnerosana — reference photo — Daderot · CC0

Cultivars of Y. carnerosana

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under Y. carnerosana yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

A Desert Dagger

Yucca carnerosana, known in gardens as the giant Spanish dagger, is a shrub or tree in the asparagus family, grown for its rosettes of stiff, sword-shaped leaves. It carries tall panicles of bell-shaped flowers typical of its genus.

Source: RHS

Roots In Mexico

This species is native to northeastern Mexico, where it grows as a shrub or tree in desert and dry shrubland country. It was first described by Trelease under the name Samuela carnerosana in 1902, and later reclassified into Yucca by McKelvey in 1938.

Source: Kew

Rosette And Spire

As a genus, Yucca is built from evergreen perennials, shrubs, or trees carrying dense or loose rosettes of stiff, sword-like leaves. Above these rosettes rise tall flower panicles, each set with bell-shaped blooms.

Source: RHS

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 28 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

7–33 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, fast-draining cactus mix

Propagation

Seed; occasional offsets

Fertilizing

Sparse cactus feed in the growing season

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Rarely flowers indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs

Saponins — vomiting, drooling. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ASPCA

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Giant Spanish Dagger yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — and a clear photo of your plant are exactly what keep this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.