Yucca filamentosa L.

A low evergreen shrub, the stem of which does not rise above ground-level, and which increases and spreads by means of side-growths from the base. Leaves stiffly erect or spreading, 1 to 21⁄2 ft long, 11⁄2 to 4 in. wide, rather abruptly narrowed at the apex, where the margins are usually infolded. From the margins of the leaves, curly thread-like filaments 2 to 3 in. long break away, and are especially numerous towards the base. Flowers pendulous, yellowish white, 2 to 3 in. across, produced during July and August in erect, conical, glabrous panicles 3 to 6 ft high, looser and broader than in either Y. gloriosa or Y. recurvifolia. Petals rounded at the apex, then abruptly narrowed to a short tip. Style about 3⁄8 in. long.

Native of the coastal plain of the southeastern USA as far north as southern New Jersey, in sand-dunes, waste ground and pine woodland; in cultivation by the second half of the 18th century and probably earlier, but the splitting of Y. filamentosa as once understood into two species makes its early history in gardens uncertain. This is a very hardy and beautiful yucca, forming low tufts from which the stately panicles spring in profusion. It should be planted in broad masses with, if possible, a dark, evergreen background. It flowers in a small state. Easily propagated by division. Some plants grown as Y. filamentosa are Y. smalliana (see below) and in the past there has been confusion between Y. filamentosa and Y. flaccida.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

† cv. ‘Bright Eye’. – Leaves edged with bright yellow. Put into commerce by the Gulf Stream Nurseries, USA.