Plants in Israel | Yucca filamentosa

Yucca filamentosa, Spoonleaf yucca, Filament yucca,
Adam’s Needle, يوكا خيطية ,יוקה סיבית

Scientific name:   Yucca filamentosa L.
Synonym name:   Yucca concava Haw., Yucca filamentosa L. var. concava (Haw.) Baker
Common name:   Spoonleaf yucca, Filament yucca, Adam’s Needle
Hebrew name:   יוקה סיבית
Arabic name:   يوكا خيطية
Family:   Agavaceae, Agave family, אגביים


Life form:   Perennial shrub
Stems:   Acaulescent (having a short stem), branching, simple
Leaves:   Rosette, evergreen, tough, sword-shaped, filiferous
Inflorescence:   Large terminal clusters, a panicle, arising beyond rosettes, ovoid, 75–150 cm, glabrous
Flowers:   White or whitish pendulous flowers
Fruits / pods:   Capsule, dehiscent, oblong, 3.8–5 × 2 cm, dehiscence septicidal. Seeds dull black, thin, 6 mm diameter
Origin:   North America


Derivation of the botanical name:

Yucca, from the Carib name for manihot or cassava (a genus belonging to the Euphorbia and misapplied to these liliaceous evergreen shrubs or small trees with rosettes of sword-shaped leaves).

filamentosa, filament-like.
concava, hollowed out, basin-shaped; hollow, concave.

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Haw. is used to indicate Adrian Hardy Haworth (1768 – 1833), an English entomologist, botanist and carcinologist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Baker is used to indicate John Gilbert Baker (1834 – 1920), an English botanist.