In this case, Yucca × schottii is believed to have originated as a hybrid between Y. baccata and Y. madrensis.

It occurs in the mountain ranges at the north of the Sierra Madre Occidental cordillera.

It is found in extreme southeast Arizona, then the smaller bootheel region of southwest New Mexico, and the neighboring northern Mexico states of Sonora and extreme northwest Chihuahua.

This specific region at the intersection of these two deserts, is a Basin and Range area, with sky islands, named the Madrean Sky Islands for the Madrean pine forests of the Sierra Madre Occidental.

[4] Yucca × schottii is a tall species up to 5 m in height, with thin trunks rarely more than 30 cm across, branching occasionally well above ground.