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INaturalist observation #7.
Observed May 27,2018
LILIACEAE
Yucca glauca / Spanish Bayonet, Soapweed

Coarse plant, subacaulescent; the short woody base often decumbent and branched forming 1 or more crowns, leaves numerous, linear attenuate, rigidly pointed spreading, 2-4 dm long, the margins inrolled, whitish and with few thread like fibers, flowers large, dropping, in a racemiform cluster, the flowering stalk, and axis stiff, 5-10 dm high, perianth greenish white, oval to lanceolate, 305 cm long, withering-persistent, stamens , shorter than the sepals and petals; style stout, swollen, green, stigmas erect or spreading, fruit a dehiscent capsule, oblong, many seeded, seeds thin, flat. This species and its pollinating insect, the Pronuba moth are independent with closely correlated life-cycles. 2n=52. Dry slopes.

Arid prairie landscape, extremely dry. Coulees eroded, sandy regolosolic soils.

Nearby species: Agropyron cristatum, Bouteloua gracilis, Asteraceae (Showy aster).

Soapweed - Yucca glauca
Milk River Natural Area
South of the Milk River as it flows into the United States.
Arid mixed grass prairie
Brown Chernozemic Soils - Sandy loam
Undulating prairie topography- areas of coulee glacial melt erosion
Nearby species: Asteraceae - showy aster; Cactaceae spp.
Soapweed reproduces by rhizomes forming large colonies of clones, and reproduces by producing a large stalk of diecious flowers which depend on the yucca moth to pollinate.
Due to the limited distribution of the Yucca month within Alberta, the colonies of soapweed are localized within two areas in the Milk River Natural Area.