Yucca filamentosa

Adam’s Needle is a broadleaf evergreen, suckering shrub from the Southeastern states. Although stemless, it has a rosette of stiff, sword-shaped leaves with loose filaments attached at the leaf margins, which distinguish it from other members of the genus. While these leaves reach only 2-3 feet in height, the flower stalks supporting a loose panicle of creamy white, bell-shaped flowers in early summer reach 6-8 or even 10 feet in height. Yucca thrives in full sun and in well drained, circumneutral soils. While it looks like a beach plant and thrives in sandy soil, it also grows well in our clay-based soils. It possesses a large taproot so is not easily moved once established, and, importantly, its lateral roots send up multiple shoots in its vicinity. While it depends on the Yucca moth for pollination, it attracts hummingbirds and is a larval host for several skippers, according to Lady Bird Johnson.