Our local species of yucca, aptly named Spanish Bayonet – Hesperoyucca whipplei – has decided to show the world its life work this month, blooming alongside the singletrack and mountainsides of the San Gabriel range here in Los Angeles. These plants will grow to maturity in around five years and shoot out a beautiful inflorescence, which grows extremely fast, reaching over 10 feet tall. These towers of white flowers attract pollinators from moths to bees and hummingbirds, as well as sending a sweet scent across the springtime air. Yesterday, on our 23-mile singletrack “descent” – which packed in over 4,000′ of elevation – I couldn’t help but stop every time one of these beautiful blooms shared our singletrack. More on that later…
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