Are yucca and malanga the same thing?

No. They are different. Malanga is related to taro, but not yucca.

Are yucca and malanga the same thing?
Nope, they're two different species of plants. Yucca (also called soapweed, it's folk name) is an ornamental, evergreen plants with short, prostate stems that form clumps of swordlike leaves, 1/2 inch wide and up to three feet long. Stems growing up to 8 feet long sprout bell-shaped, greenish white flowers, which turn up at night; their fragrance lures moths in for pollination.They're easy to take care of, very adaptable and drought resistant; once planted, they're best left alone since they do have tap roots.





About malanga--from what I've discovered, xanthosoma is a genus of about 50 species of tropical and sub-tropical arums in the flowering plant family, Araceae, all native to tropical America. Several species are grown for their starchy corms (a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (estivation); an important food staple of tropical regions, known variously as malanga, new cocoyam, tannia, tannier, yautía, macabo, taioba , dasheen and ‘ape. Malanga is generally ground/pounded into a flour which is supposed to be the most hypoallergenic flour on the market; great for people who have an particular food allergy. And now you know more than you probably ever wanted to about yucca and malanga!
Reply:Generally, malanga resembles dasheen (taro) and the elephant-ear plant, with large green leaves about 2 feet wide by 2½ feet long. The upper leaf surface is rather smooth and sometimes waxy, and the lower surface is ribbed. The main difference in leaf shape between dasheen and malanga is that the dasheen's petiole (leaf stem) joins the leaf blade away from the edge of the leaf, whereas the malanga's petiole attaches at the notched edge of the leaf. The malanga plant may attain a height of 5 feet or more. Edible tubers (cormels) are formed in the soil at the base of the plant. A central large tuber (corm) is formed, with a cluster of cormels, grayish brown to black lateral tubers, around it.





The genus Yucca is one of the most remarkable groups of flowering plants native to the New World. It includes about 40 species, most of which occur in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Although they are often associated with arid desert regions, some species are native to the southeastern United States and the Caribbean islands. What truly sets this genus apart from other flowering plants is their unique method of pollination: A specific moth that is genetically programmed for stuffing a little ball of pollen into the cup-shaped stigma of each flower. Like fig wasps and acacia ants, the relationship is mutually beneficial to both partners, and is vital for the survival of both plant and insect. In fact, yuccas cultivated in the Old World, where yucca moths are absent, will not produce seeds unless they are hand pollinated.