Adam's Needle, Bear-Grass (Yucca filamentosa)

Plantae>Magnoliophyta>Liliopsida>Liliales>Agavaceae>Yucca filamentosa L.

Yucca filamentosa, most commonly called "Yucca" instead of "Adam's Needle", grows throughout North Carolina, but is most abundant in the Coastal Plain.

Yucca is quite showy in bloom, with a terminal panicle of creamy-white flowers extending several feet above the leaves.

Robeson Co., NC 5/29/08.

	Pender Co., NC 4/19/08.
	Pender Co., NC 4/19/08.

Two other species of Yucca grow along the immediate coast, Yucca aloifolia (Aloe Yucca, Spanish Bayonet) and Yucca gloriosa (Moundlily Yucca), but Yucca filamentosa is easily distinguished from them by the twisty thread-like filaments that shred off the leaf margins (these give it the name filamentosa) and by the near lack of a trunk. Also compare with Weak-leaf Yucca (Yucca flaccida).

New Hanover Co., NC 8/30/08.

	Moore Co., NC 4/20/05.
	Richmond Co., NC 6/6/03.
	Chapel Hill, NC 6/18/05.

	Robeson Co., NC 5/29/08.
	Robeson Co., NC 5/29/08.

More information:
Bioimages
Floridata
Wildflowers of the SE US
Virginia Tech Dendrology
Yuccaagavaceae.com