Editing Yucca (section)

==Range and habitat==
[[File:Narrowleaf Yucca Blossoms (34920628044).jpg|thumb|[[Narrowleaf yucca]] (''Yucca angustissima'') blooming in [[Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve]]]]
The natural range of the yuccas stretches across much of southern North America from Panama in the south as far north as Alberta in Canada.{{sfn|POWO 2025b}} The exact extent is disputed as though ''[[Yucca gigantea]]'' is listed by [[Plants of the World Online]] (POWO) and [[World Flora Online]] (WFO) as native to Central America,{{sfn|POWO 2025b}}{{sfn|WFO 2025a}} other sources like World Plants list it as introduced to all the nations of Central America.{{sfn|Hassler 2025}} Likewise, ''[[Yucca flaccida]]'' is listed as native to [[Ontario]] by POWO, WFO, and World Plants,{{sfn|POWO 2025b}}{{sfn|WFO 2025a}}{{sfn|Hassler 2025}} but is listed by VASCAN as introduced.{{sfn|VASCAN 2025}}

Yuccas are generally accepted to be introduced to the islands [[Caribbean]].{{sfn|POWO 2025b}}{{sfn|WFO 2025a}} Various species have also escaped from cultivation in Europe as far east as Poland and Romania. They also grow as an introduced species in Turkey, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in Asia. In Africa they are reported in Tunisia and [[KwaZulu-Natal]] and [[Free State (province)|Free State]] in South Africa. They also have been introduced to South America in Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Argentina.{{sfn|POWO 2025b}} In Australia one species, [[Aloe yucca]] (''Yucca aloifolia''), has become definitely become naturalized in [[Western Australia]], [[Queensland]], [[New South Wales]], and the [[Australian Capital Territory]]. It is also doubtfully naturalized on [[Lord Howe Island]] and naturalized on [[Norfolk Island]].{{sfn|APC 2025a}} Two other species, ''[[Yucca gloriosa]]'' and ''[[Yucca whipplei]]'', may also be naturalized.{{sfn|APC 2025b}}{{sfn|APC 2025c}} They are also listed as an [[environmental weed]] in New Zealand having been found 31 times outside of cultivation.{{sfn|McAlpine|Howel|2024|p=28}}

The yuccas are [[xerophytic]], plants with adaptations to dry environments, with even those native to rainy habitats growing better when in drier areas.{{sfn|Guillot Ortiz|Van der Meer|2009|p=7}} The smaller, freeze-tolerant species of yucca have two centers of diversity, one in Texas and the other on the [[Colorado Plateau]]. They are found generally to the north and east of the range in [[Chihuahuan Desert]], the [[Trans-Pecos]] region, the [[Rocky Mountains]], the [[Colorado Plateau]], and the [[Great Plains]]. Tree-like yuccas with fleshy fruits have a center of diversity in the [[Sonoran Desert]]. They are found mainly in Mexico, while the tree like yuccas with spongy fruits are found only in the [[Mojave Desert]].{{sfn|Clary|Simpson|1995|p=79}}