We can tell right off this isn't a palm because palms produce divided leaves. Two common groupings based on leaf shapes are feather palms and fan palms.

once you get an ID ... find out if all those dead leaves should be removed ... my gut thinks they should be ...

ken

Thank you all for your replies. @Embothrium - You've taught me something new! @ken - This is next to a parking lot at a local restaurant. I'm guessing proper plant maintenance is not at the top of the property owner's list of priorities. I just instantly liked it when I saw it and am thinking of getting one for my yard.

The dead leaves are a great part of the plant's beauty. I would never remove them!

i agree.... unless they have the potential to harbor bugs and disease .... ken

I have heard many parts of yucca are edible. Does this vary for each variety?

If anything they should have removed the dead leaves and left the live ones immediately above them - that did get cut back - alone.

Many landscape maintenance crews around here do all kinds of dumb stuff that implies they have little or no training in legitimate practices at all. Apparently this is not a local phenomenon.

You can leave the dried leaves on or take them off. I think it adds to the plant's character to leave them on.

Here are a few larger ones growing around Northern VA.

How far from the grace and beauty of the one on the OP's picture!

The one in the last shot, that had the trunk cleared doesn't look as good as the one above it that still has a wrapping of dead leaves.

In my area the palm - this time it really is one - that has a similar zone of half dead leaves, between the trunk and the completely fresh looking leaves on top is windmill palm. While it is understandable that many would find this ring of partly dead leaves objectionable when people here skin the local palms up they look scalped also.

In other words if every browning leaf was cut off of the bigger of the two yuccas in the last picture the tufts of leaves left afterward would be too small, in proportion to the trunks.