Banana Yucca / Datil (Yucca baccata)

Family: Asparagaceae | Edibility: Choice Edible (4/5)

Stout desert succulent with stiff dagger-like blue-green leaves, fleshy white blossoms, and large banana-shaped fruits.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Fruit, Flowers

Harvest Seasons: Spring, Late Summer, Fall

Flavor & Culinary Uses

Roasted fruit resembles rich caramelized molasses, sweet pumpkin, and dried figs; petals taste crisp like endive. — Large green fruits slow-roasted over desert hardwood embers until caramelized; Pulp stripped from fibrous skins and sun-dried into chewable fruit leather; Thick flower petals blanched quickly and tossed into desert salads

Habitat & North American Range

Arid rocky slopes, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and desert grasslands at 3,000–8,000 ft elevation. (Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8, Zone 9)