Stop 8: Dagger Plant (Yucca aloifolia)

Common Name: Dagger Plant 

Scientific Name: Yucca aloifolia 

Family Name: Agavaceae 

Duration: Perennial 

Size: Up to about 12 feet tall 

Leaf Arrangement: Alternate 

Blooming Months: Summer, Fall 

Distribution: AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC 

General Description 

The dagger plant, Yucca aloifolia, is a native plant to the Gulf Coast and prefers to grow in sandy soils. Being so close to a large body of salt water, the plant is highly tolerant to excess salt spray and is also tolerant to periods of drought. The plant leaves are modified spikes and sport very sharp leaf tips. Once the plant has produced white and lightly purple bell-shaped flowers, the trunk of the plant ceases growth. The plant continues to grow by way of lateral buds for vertical growth, as well as offshoots near the base that form a cluster of the plants. 

Park Wildlife Ecology/Connections 

Yucca aloifolia plays many important roles in its ecosystem and has ecological connections to many forms of wildlife. Not only do yucca plants provide wildlife cover for birds and insects; they have also developed an evolutionary relationship with yucca moths. These two species participate in what is known as obligate mutualism. Mutualism describes a relationship in which both organisms involved in the relationship benefit from the interaction between each other, and as obligate mutualists, neither species can survive without the other. In the case of the yucca plants and their partners, the moths will transfer pollen between yucca flowers and will lay their eggs in the flowers. The moth larva will feed on some of the developing seeds but will leave enough seeds viable so that the plant can reproduce and continue as a partner in their mutual survival.  

North American Ethnobotany 

The Choctaw people used the aloe yucca plant as a dermatological aid by boiling mashed roots with grease or tallow and using the result as a salve for a variety of purposes.