FNPS Plant Database

Yucca gloriosa

Spanish dagger, moundlily yucca

PHOTOS COMING SOON!

Nomenclature

Common Name:

Spanish dagger, moundlily yucca

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Yucca gloriosa

Family:

Agavaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

shrub

Size:

2-3 (8) ft tall by 2-3 ft wide

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

white

Fruit Color:

green

Phenology:

evergreen

Noted For:

Showy Flowers, Showy Fruits, Interesting Foliage

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Specimen plant. Forms a large rosette of spine-tipped leaves. Flower stalks rise to 6-8 ft.

Considerations:

Spine-tipped leave are very sharp.

Availability:

Native Nurseries

Propagation:

Stem cuttings, rhizomes, seed.

Light:

Full Sun

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

Coming Soon!

Not wet but not extremely dry ---to--- Very long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

High. Can tolerate significant and ongoing amounts of salt.

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand

Soil pH:

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B,10A,10B,11

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Pollinators, Butterflies, Caterpillars

Pollinated by moths though hummingbirds may be attracted to the nectar.  Larval host plant for cofaqui giant skipper ( Megathymus cofaqui ) and yucca giant skipper ( Megathymus yuccae ) butterflies.  





Nectar plant for great southern white ( Ascia monuste ) and other butterflies.





Pollinated by yucca moths. 

Provides wildlife cover





 

Native Habitats:

Cultivated. Dry sites.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

Fruit and flowers are edible.

General Comments:

Citations:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10811791/#:~:text=Yucca moths are the only,larvae die in abscised flowers. Note -- FSU herbariuim speciment from Leon county is a roadside on the edge of a field.  It is growing wild, but it likely did not get there by natural dispersal



Minno, Marc and Maria Minno.  1999.  Florida butterfly gardening.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville.



Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants (http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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