Adam’s needle (Yucca filamentosa), commonly known as needle palm, yucca, and Spanish bayonet, is an evergreen broad-leaved shrub that is practically stemless that originates from sand dunes beaches, and fields in South Carolina to Mississippi and Florida.
There are around 50 species of yucca shrubs and trees. Although they are sometimes referred to as cactus species, Adam’s Needle is not cacti but evergreen trees and shrubs from the Asparagaceae family of plants.
It features a basal rosette of stiff, sword-shaped, green leaves with thorny tips (up to 30-inch long and up to 4-inch wide) with long filamentous threads (depending on the specific epithet) coiled along the edges.
These ligaments of leaves have tiny, thread-like threads around their edges that make the plant look like it is peeling. The leaves form a 2 to 3-meter high clump of leaves. The flowers are cream in color and are followed by persistent pods. Today, the plant is mainly used as an ornamental plant in the garden.
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