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yucca (yùk´e) noun
Any of various evergreen plants of the genus Yucca, native to the warmer regions of North America, having often tall stout stems and a terminal cluster of white flowers.

[From New Latin Iucca, genus name, from Spanish yuca, cassava, from Taino.]

Yucca

Yucca, genus of evergreen shrubs and trees containing about 30 species, native to North America and the West Indies. The spearlike leaves are borne in tufts. From the center of the tuft grows the large flower stalk, which bears a cluster of bell-shaped, drooping blossoms. The Spanish bayonet (Yucca aloifolia), native to the West Indies, Mexico, and the southeastern United States, bears white flowers and grows to a height of 8 m (25 ft). The Spanish dagger (Yucca gloriosa) is native to the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Florida; it bears white, reddish-tinged flowers and reaches a height of 2.4 m (8 ft). The Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) is found in the Mojave Desert and grows to a height of 9 m (30 ft). The mission bell, or Quixote plant (Yucca whipplei), native to southern California, bears creamy-white flowers and reaches a height of about 2 m (about 6 ft).
Scientific classification: Yuccas make up the genus Yucca of the family Agavaceae.

yucca moth

yucca moth (yùk´e môth) noun
A small white moth (Tegeticula alba) of North America that pollinates the yucca plant and at the same time lays its eggs in the ovaries of the flower.

When a yucca matures it sends a large stalk up from its center which terminates in a beautiful cluster of white flowers. The yuccas used to make didgeridoos die after they have flowered and produced seeds. When harvesting these stalks, care must be taken to select only those stalks that have been dead for approximately two years.

By doing this, we not only honor the plants reproductive cycle, but we also have allowed the stalk to fully dry and cure. The pointy leaves are gently pealed back and the stalk is cut as close to the base of the plant as possible. Following the removal of the stalk, the remaining seeds are dispersed and any left over mess is cleaned up and neatly stacked in a concealed place.

Yucca stalks are not naturally hollow. They are filled with a soft fibrous pulp that must first be removed by either splitting the stalk and removing the pulp, or by reaming. The interior surface is then sanded smooth, and the two halves glued back together. Once this is done, the interior and exterior surfaces are sealed with several coats of a hard non toxic resin. A mouthpiece made from bee's wax is applied and the didgeridoo is done.

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