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NC Native Plant Society:
Plant Details

Yucca filamentosa

Adam's Needle, Beargrass, Curlyleaf Yucca, Spoonleaf Yucca

Scientific Name:

Yucca filamentosa

Genus:

Yucca

Species Epithet:

filamentosa

Common Name:

Adam's Needle, Beargrass, Curlyleaf Yucca, Spoonleaf Yucca

Plant Type

Shrub

Life Cycle

Perennial

Plant Family

Agavaceae (Agave Family)

Native/Alien:

NC Native

Size:

0-1 ft., 1-3 ft., 3-6 ft.

Bloom Color(s):

White, Yellow

Light:

Sun - 6 or more hours of sun per day, Part Shade - 2 to 6 hours of sun per day

Soil Moisture:

Dry, Moist

Bloom Time:

April, May, June

Growing Area:

Mountains, Piedmont, Sandhills, Coastal Plain

Habitat Description:

Woodlands, forests, dunes, roadsides, disturbed areas. Common throughout NC.

Leaf Arrangement:

Basal

Leaf Retention:

Evergreen

Leaf Type:

Leaves veined, not needle-like or scale-like

Leaf Form:

Simple

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Wildlife Value:

Important for Wildlife

Landscape Value:

Recommended and Available

State Rank:

S4: Apparently secure, S5: Secure (*Key)

Global Rank:

G5 - Secure (*Key)

Notes:

naturalizes outside it's native region.

Leaves

Beargrass is easy to identify by its sharp, thick, evergreen leaves in a mounded basal rosette and the long, curly filaments on the leaf margins.

image

Paynter, Wilmington, 4/30/2010

Common in dunes, woods and roadsides of the coast, piedmont and mountains. Note from Jack Spruill: "The leaves / blades of this plant are very strong. I remember when people who smoked herrings would use the split blades of beargrass to tie the herrings into small bundles to be hung in a smoke house. Even through suitable cord was widely available, it was the tradition to use split beargrass blades."

Coming into bloom

image

Wilmington, May 2012

Flowers close up

image

Inside the flower, 3-cleft stigma surrounded by stamens with pollen.

image

Dried capsules of Yucca filamentosa in late summer

garden in Orange County, NC

The Scientific Name is Yucca filamentosa. You will likely hear them called Adam's Needle, Beargrass, Curlyleaf Yucca, Spoonleaf Yucca. This picture shows the Dried capsules of Yucca filamentosa in late summer of Yucca filamentosa

Bettina Darveaux

Yucca seeds, collected from cultivated plants.

Watauga Co., NC

The Scientific Name is Yucca filamentosa. You will likely hear them called Adam's Needle, Beargrass, Curlyleaf Yucca, Spoonleaf Yucca. This picture shows the Yucca seeds, collected from cultivated plants. of Yucca filamentosa

Annkatrin Rose

Links:

USDA PLANTS Database Record

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
 

Flora of North America
 

NC State Extension
 



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