I first noticed this southeastern native plant a few years ago but could never figure out what it was, the tan fibers along the leaves are similar to what you would find on a Washingtonia Palm frond. (pictured below)
Last week I noticed the plant for sale by a few nurseries at The Landscape Show in Orlando, Florida.
If you are the first to guess this plant, OSR will send you this free (recycled) used copy of the Devil’s Teeth. Journalist Susan Casey’s account of her time on the Farallon Islands studying the Great White Shark with two biologists reveals the history of the Island and the wonderment of the Great White.
Fergie, our OSR mascot was kind enough to model the hard cover book, but she silently protested her exploitation by closing her eyes for every shot. OSR will gladly mail Susan Casey’s true story completely free of charge to the first OSR visitor who sends the correct answer via our comments section for this post.
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its a succulent and a palm of some kind.
Hi Jr. Both are good guesses, your are getting close. here are a few clues: Tequilla, adam,
Dear Bart,
I believe the speciment you have shown on your website is none other than…. (dramatic pause & drum roll please) yes I have it!
Yucca Filamentosa
(If this is correct, I am none the less disqualified from winning your valuable and desirable prize, Devils Teeth, because I never would have found the answer if you yourself had not acknowledged the Yucca famliy). Thanks , jdb
James, Great guess and you are correct! By the way, the Filamentosa would make a great drought tolerant native addition to your landscape. The rules committee declares you the winner, I gave ample clues to everyone who asked me questions about the plant. Congratulations!
Other Visitors who e-mailed answers:
JoAnn: It’s a coconut palm. If not, it looks like Alflafa’s hair
T& L: Liz and I independently guessed Agave from your photo. Seeing it in person confirmed it since the bigger plant, without hairs along the leaves, had an old tall flower stalk. Also the only two plants I saw had the very sharp and tough leaf tips that gives the plant its name of Spanish bayonet. Its genus and species is Yucca aloifolia in the family Agavaceae. It is supposedly colonial but I saw only two plants. And the older one was especially infested with scale on its leaves. One group of small scale had about 30 ants eating the honeydew.
The old fence right-of-way where the plants occurred has a wonderful mix of native plants that usually are found only in rich sand scrub.
These include a lot of wire grass and chalky bluestem that the gopher tortoises prefer to eat. Seeing this made me think that it might increase plant diversity and help tortoises to get a plow in there and scrape some areas down to the sand soil.
Thank you, I am honored to have won this contest. In my mind, the real give-away characteristic of the plant specimen is the ‘filamentosa’ or filaments, threadlike hairs. I thought these would have provided an excellent source of material for making rope or weaving as coarse-cloth by native Americans. I will definitely consider planting it as a drought resistant variety at home, and if I can grow enough of it I’ll try braiding or weaving it. jdb
THAT is one beautiful animal.
Fergi says thanks! But I told her I think Hope is talking about the Great White Shark.
Yucca whipplei