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DATILLO

DATILILLO (Yucca valida)

Datilillo (meaning little date) is a tree-like yucca that grows to 3-7 metres height. It grows commonly on the fine-textured soils of flat plains and gentle slopes in the Vizcaino Desert region of Baja California. It can either be unbranched or develop short branches (image below), but it lacks the characteristic multiple branching of the Joshua tree of the Mojave Desert.

The leaves are rigid and sharp-pointed, with characteristic fibrous edges. When the older leaves die they remain erect for a few seasons but then bend downwards, forming a short skirt below the living leaves.

The dead leaves show interesting zonation patterns, caused by fungi that degrade the tissues. The dark zone lines in the image below represent the junctions between diferent fungal colonies. The small dark spots are flask-shaped sporing bodies of the fungi.

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