Yucca filamentosa

Yucca filamentosa, Adam’s needle and thread, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae native to the southeastern United States. Growing to 3 m (9.8 ft) tall, it is an evergreen shrub valued in horticulture for its architectural qualities. Y. filamentosa is closely related to Yucca flaccida and it is possible they should be classified as a single species. Its common names include Adam's needle, common yucca, Spanish bayonet, bear-grass, needle-palm, silk-grass, and spoon-leaf yucca. Usually trunkless, it is multisuckering with heads of 75 cm (30 in) long, filamentous, blue-green, strappy leaves. Y. filamentosa is readily distinguished from other yucca species by white, thready filaments along the leaf margins. Flower stems up to 3 m (10 ft) tall bear masses of pendulous cream flowers in early summer. They are pollinated by the yucca moth Tegeticula yuccasella. Other moth species, such as Tegeticula intermedia, also use this yucca as a host plant to lay their eggs. Yucca filamentosa is found from southeast Virginia south to Florida, and as far west as south and southeast Texas. It has become naturalized along the Atlantic coastal plain north to Long Island Sound and into areas of the lower Midwest. It is reportedly also naturalized in France, Italy and Turkey.