A yucca is a desert plant. It grows a thick, straight stem — sometimes short, sometimes as tall as a tree — and out of the top come long, stiff, narrow leaves with sharp points, spreading out like a burst of green swords. Some kinds send up a tall spike of creamy white flowers.

A yucca絲蘭 is a desert plant是一種沙漠植物。 It它 grows a thick, straight stem長出粗直的莖 — sometimes short, sometimes as tall as a tree有時矮，有時高得像樹 — and out of the top come long, stiff, narrow leaves with sharp points頂端長出又長又硬、帶尖刺的窄葉，spreading out like a burst of green swords像一叢綠色的劍向外散開。 Some kinds有些品種 send up a tall spike of creamy white flowers會抽出一根長長的花穗，開出乳白色的花。

They come from the dry parts of North and Central America; the Joshua tree of the American desert is one.

They它們 come from the dry parts of North and Central America來自北美和中美洲的乾燥地區；the Joshua tree of the American desert美國沙漠裡的約書亞樹 is one就是其中一種。

You also see yuccas indoors. A yucca in a pot is a common office and living-room plant, because it needs almost no water and does not mind being forgotten. So a student in Taipei is more likely to meet the word in a plant shop than in a desert.

You also see yuccas indoors你也會在室內看到絲蘭。 A yucca in a pot盆栽絲蘭 is a common office and living-room plant是辦公室和客廳很常見的植物，because it needs almost no water因為它幾乎不太需要澆水 and does not mind being forgotten也不介意被人忘記照顧。 So所以 a student in Taipei台北的學生 is more likely to meet the word in a plant shop than in a desert比較有可能是在花市而不是沙漠裡遇到這個字。

Here is where you must be careful. There is another word, yuca (one c), which is cassava — the root vegetable, the one tapioca and 木薯粉 come from. They sound almost the same, and the confusion is very old: an early scientist mixed the two plants up, and the wrong name stuck to the desert plant and never came off. So the plant we call yucca is named after a plant it is not.

Here is where you must be careful這裡要特別小心。 There is another word還有另一個字, yuca (one c)yuca（只有一個c）, which is cassava指的是樹薯 — the root vegetable那種根莖類蔬菜, the one tapioca and 木薯粉 come from也就是tapioca（樹薯粉）和木薯粉的來源。 They它們 sound almost the same聽起來幾乎一樣, and the confusion is very old而且搞混這件事由來已久：an early scientist mixed the two plants up早期有個科學家把這兩種植物搞混了, and the wrong name stuck to the desert plant結果這個錯的名字就黏在沙漠植物身上 and never came off再也沒有拿掉過。 So所以 the plant we call yucca我們叫做yucca的這種植物 is named after a plant it is not名字其實是取自另一種它根本不是的植物。

If a menu says yuca, it is food. The spiky plant is not food.

If a menu says yuca如果菜單上寫yuca, it is food那就是食物。 The spiky plant那種帶刺的植物 is not food不是食物。