''Yucca filifera'' is a member of the subfamily
Agavaceae, family
Asparagaceae
Asparagaceae, known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, '' Asparagus officinalis''. Those who live in the temperate ...
, native to central
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
.
History
It was discovered in 1840 in northeastern Mexico between
Saltillo
Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and highwa ...
and Parras () on 19 May 1847 by merchant and explorer
Josiah Gregg.
[Yucca filifera Chabaud](_blank)
Tropicos, Missouri Botanical Garden, 2013 It was later introduced to Europe and described for science by J. Benjamin Chabaud (1833-1915) in 1876.
Description

A tall, heavily branched yucca, ''Y. filifera'' has straight, ensiform leaves growing in
rosette-shaped bunches from the end of each stem.
[R.J. Hodgkiss]
The Yucca Page
20 February 2012, accessed 25 March 2013 Its inflorescence hangs over and is made of many separate white flowers.
Status
''Yucca filifera'' is not considered to be threatened by the
IUCN, as it has a very large range and its population appears to be stable. It is locally used for fibers,
and may experience some threat from habitat degradation.
Cultivation
''Y. filifera'' can be cultivated in
xerophytic
A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert such as the Sahara or places in the Alps or th ...
conditions. It is used as roof covering and as a source of fibre for handcrafting by the indigenous people, who call it ''palma china'' or ''izote''.
[Palma china, Izote, Palma corriente, Palma grande - Yucca filifera](_blank)
InfoJardin, Jardineros Paisajismo Plantas, 2013, accessed 25 March 2013
Am enormous specimen of ''Yucca filifera'' stands in front of the Anderson Gallery at the
Cantor Arts Center
The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, formerly the Stanford University Museum of Art, and commonly known as the Cantor Arts Center, is an art museum on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. ...
, Stanford University. It was transplanted to this site in the 1880s. In the spring, it bears long clusters of white flowers, some well over a meter long.
Yucca filifera, from ''Trees of Stanford''
/ref>
See also
*
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q150210
filifera
Filifera is a suborder of hydrozoans in the order Anthoathecata. They are found in marine, brackish and freshwater habitats.
Characteristics
Members of this suborder are characterised by the filiform tentacles of the polyps which do not termina ...
Flora of Mexico
Plants described in 1876