Foothills. Woodlands, openings. Summer.
Beautiful Mountain, Navajo Reservation, New Mexico, May 29, 2010.

Yucca baileyi is quite similar to Yucca angustissima, Yucca harrimaniae, and Yucca glauca, and it is sometimes difficult to separate these species. Y. baileyi does stand out sometimes when it grows in tight colonies. It also tends to grow at a bit higher elevations in the lower mountains and nearby grasslands.

The Flora of North America indicates, "Some populations of Yucca baileyi comprise compact colonies of semierect, branched plants instead of scattered, cespitose individuals. These populations were recognized as var. navajoa by J. M. Webber (1953), who noted that Y. baileyi possibly hybridizes with Y. glauca and Y. angustissima".

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Wooten and Standley described this plant in 1913 from a specimen collected by Standley in San Juan County, New Mexico, in 1911. Vernon Bailey was an expert mammalogist with the USDA. Click for more biographical information about Bailey.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Yucca baileyi