Spanish Bayonet

Rosette shaped semi-woody evergreen shrub 3 ft. tall with stiff sharply pointed fleshy leaves and greenish to white flowers on a tall solitary stalk extending from the center of the plant, blooming May to August. Drought tolerant, adapted to dry sandy, rocky soils in short grass prairies, high plains, desert grasslands, woodlands and shrublands; up to 9,500 ft. elevation. Rhizomatous, forming small to moderate sized colonies. The most extensively distributed yucca in North America. Livestock and numerous wild ungulates browse flowers and seedlings. Provides food and cover for birds and small mammals and nesting habitat for native bees. Caterpillar host for Strecker's giant-skipper butterfly, as well as Yucca moths, which are thought to be its only successful pollinator, and its fruits serve as the moth’s sole larval food source. State flower of New Mexico.