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Hesperoyucca peninsularis, the peninsular candle or lechuguilla, is a plant species endemic to the Baja California peninsula. It is a perennial forming a rosette. It is semelparous (flowering once then dying).[2][3]

Hesperoyucca peninsularis
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asparagaceae
Subfamily:	Agavoideae
Genus:	Hesperoyucca
Species:	H. peninsularis
Binomial name
Hesperoyucca peninsularis (McKelvey) Clary
Synonyms[2]
Yucca peninsularis McKelvey Yucca whipplei subsp. eremica Epling & A.L.Haines

Description

Plants are monocarpic or polycarpic, and sometimes rhizomatous. Some form secondary rosettes at their base while others branch their caudex to produce new rosettes after flowering.[2]

Taxonomy

Phylogeny and classification

Although morphological characteristics and phylogenetic ITS analysis show that H. peninsularis is somewhat distinct from H. whipplei,[2] it is still widely recognized as either a form or a subspecies of H. whipplei. More conclusive research shows that H. peninsularis and H. whipplei form a polytomy, and are sister to H. newberryi, which is consistent with the fact that the populations of H. newberryi are disjunct from the genus while H. peninsularis and H. whipplei overlap.[4]

Distribution and habitat

It occurs in the coastal succulent scrub of northwestern Baja California south into the Central Desert and the Sierra de San Francisco in Baja California Sur.[5]

This species grows in association with Elephant cactus, Larrea, Boojum trees, barrel cacti, Dudleya, Agave, ragweed and chollas. It grows on granite or basalt soils.[1] The plant tends to grow in clusters but occasionally can be found growing solitarily.[2]

References

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