bear grass

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}]
    

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]