YUCCA PLANT

• Lily family
• 2-4 meters tall
• Can reach up to 2,000 plants per acre
• Adams Needle and Soapweed are found in Nebraska
• Leaves are sharp and can injure animals and humans

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

• Stiff perennial leaves
• Leaves produce large heads of creamy- white waxy flowers
• Stiff, evergreen, sword-shaped leaves on a stout trunk.

WHAT IS IT USED FOR?

• Natives used the yucca plant as shampoo, food and fiber
• Americans used it to make rope, sandals, and cloth
• Used for headaches, helps with hypertension, and arthritis

YUCCA PLANT

YUCCA PLANT WITH FLOWERS

WHERE?

• Has higher amounts in North and Central America in deserts
• Tolerant in cold winters
• Root system well adapted to water storage

SEASONAL DIVISION

• Seasonal devision starts in May with flowering
• Fruit ripening starts in July
• Seed dispersal in September

WHY ARE THEY UNIQUE?

• New plants are produced by seeds or ramets
• (Clones of the parent plant produced from lateral buds or rhizomes near rosetts
• Seeds are dispersed by the wind
• Carries the seeds and not all seeds make more plants, only a few
• Produce thousands of seeds and only some of them make it