Yuc·ca n. Bot. A genus of American liliaceous, sometimes arborescent, plants having long, pointed, and often rigid, leaves at the top of a more or less woody stem, and bearing a large panicle of showy white blossoms.
Note: ☞ The species with more rigid leaves (as Yucca aloifolia, Yucca Treculiana, and Yucca baccata) are called Spanish bayonet, and one with softer leaves (Yucca filamentosa) is called bear grass, and Adam's needle.
Yucca moth Zool., a small silvery moth (Pronuba yuccasella) whose larvae feed on plants of the genus Yucca.
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bear grass
n 1: yucca of southern United States having a clump of basal
grasslike leaves and a central stalk with a terminal
raceme of small whitish flowers [syn: Yucca smalliana]
2: yucca of west central United States having a clump of basal
grasslike leaves and a central stalk with a terminal
raceme of small whitish flowers [syn: Yucca glauca]
3: stemless plant with tufts of grasslike leaves and erect
panicle of minute creamy white flowers; southwestern
United States and Mexico [syn: Nolina microcarpa]
4: plant of western North America having woody rhizomes and
tufts of stiff grasslike basal leaves and spikes of creamy
white flowers [syn: squaw grass, Xerophyllum tenax]