This one is single-stemmed and showing the swollen base.
Leaves are sword shaped, lanceolate, 18 - 36" long and about 1 - 2" wide. Sharply pointed, entire margins, slightly curled inward (concave shaped or boat like).
Small white flowers in large panicles (2-3' long) in mid to late summer. Panicles may be upright or slightly pendulous.
Fruit is a small berry. These are dried up.
Stems are thick, succulent like, with leaf scars.
Trunk often with a wide base near the ground. Bark on older trees is gray brown and slightly checked.
Misidentification: Looks like a Yucca, such as Yucca aloifolia, the Spanish Bayonet, but the flowers are totally different as are the leaves, which are much wider and more distinctly boat shaped.
Location: Common,
Santa Cruz: Sunshine Villa on either Front St or 3rd. in the parking lot to the left of the facility more on 3rd.