Flor de Itabo to Yucca

When I lived in Costa Rica, I was happily introduced to Flor de Itabo. "In season," the flower stalks are sold in ferias and roadside stands - virtually none make it to the grocery stores (they are snapped up before they can get there). I wrote a couple of posts about the plant:
- Flor de Itabo
- Tropical Chicken Lasagna

Now, here I am in New Mexico, and I'm experiencing a sort of déjà vu! I keep  seeing the flowers, but they're on the wrong plant! Well, I finally looked it up...

Itabo is also known as "Yucca Gigantea" - a type of yucca that is native to Central America :-\
The edible flower (for all yucca, I think) is called "izote."  It is not only the national flower of El Salvador, but it is also the state flower of New Mexico!  But here, it is simply designated "yucca flower"...

Here is another yucca (from California). Before I looked this stuff up, I labeled it a  Flor de Itabo...