[syn: squaw grass, bear grass, Xerophyllum tenax]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Yucca \Yuc"ca\, n. [NL., from Yuca, its name in St. Domingo.]
(Bot.)
A genus of American liliaceous, sometimes arborescent, plants
having long, pointed, and often rigid, leaves at the top of a
more or less woody stem, and bearing a large panicle of showy
white blossoms.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The species with more rigid leaves (as Yucca
aloifolia, Yucca Treculiana, and Yucca baccata)
are called Spanish bayonet, and one with softer
leaves (Yucca filamentosa) is called bear grass,
and Adam's needle.
[1913 Webster]
Yucca moth (Zool.), a small silvery moth (Pronuba
yuccasella) whose larvae feed on plants of the genus
Yucca.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
bear grass
n 1: yucca of southern United States having a clump of basal
grasslike leaves and a central stalk with a terminal raceme
of small whitish flowers [syn: bear grass, Yucca
smalliana]
2: yucca of west central United States having a clump of basal
grasslike leaves and a central stalk with a terminal raceme
of small whitish flowers [syn: bear grass, Yucca glauca]
3: stemless plant with tufts of grasslike leaves and erect
panicle of minute creamy white flowers; southwestern United
States and Mexico [syn: bear grass, Nolina microcarpa]
4: plant of western North America having woody rhizomes and
tufts of stiff grasslike basal leaves and spikes of creamy
white flowers [syn: squaw grass, bear grass, Xerophyllum
tenax]