Cold Hardy Yuccas

A member of the Agave family, yucca plants are hardy evergreens with more than 50 species. They exhibit a variety of forms from short grass like to branched treelike plants.  These plants are drought tolerant and adapt well to most light conditions, from full sun to partial shade.
Leaf color is variable from green to grey-green and even silver.  
The leaves vary in number and texture.  Some species have several dozen leaves, while others have 100 either rigid or smooth.

Yuccas can have a single to multiple trunks or trunkless.  Root systems are strong and cordlike.  In Eastern North America the pollination is needed by a tiny white moth and in turn the moth needs the yucca to continue their life cycle.   In the day the moth hides in the yuccas bloom and appears at dusk to pollinate the night's opening flower.  The moth releases her eggs into the ovary of the plant.  As the larvae feed on the seeds and as they develop they drop to the ground and burrow into the soil.  Eventually they emerge and begin the cycle again.

The primary use of yuccas and agave is for fiber, which is strong and flexible, but is not the only by product:

Usage of the Yucca:

1. Fiber
2. Thatch for shelters
3. Leaves makes: (Baskets, chairs, hats, mats, toys, paint brushes and brooms
4. Medical splints
5. Food source and beverage sweetener
6. Alcoholic beverage
7. Fence borders
8. Cattle feed
9. Rope
10. Sandals
11. Soap
12. Art
13. Treat symptoms of the cold and flu

http://www.ncpalmtrees.com/index.php/yuccas

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