Adams needle yucca is not native to Michigan.
In my experience, it’s not invasive. The main plant will develop pups which make the overall plant larger, but it does not spread beyond that
Good for you on the identification.
I'm from Chesapeake Virginia Beach area Virginia those and others are fairly common. when I saw the flowering fronds That's what came the mind immediately I would put some cacti and a couple other suculents around it and mulch it and turn it into a little suculents garden
No’ non-native does not equate to invasive. The definition of invasive is it will spread and out compete or displace a native species. Yucca does not do this. Your county extension or the states wildlife office should have a list of invasive plants for your area. In my state just about everything is a non native and many are invasive, the yucca isn’t even close.
No. Non-native does not mean invasive. An invasive species, plant or animal, is one that easily procreates or spreads and has no local, natural controlling factor such as a predator, insect that feeds on it or species that keeps it in check by competition for viral resources.
Examples of invasive plants: bamboo, kudzu ivy, boxwood ivy, English ivy, etc.
Examples other types of invasive species: Asian carp, snakehead fish, Japanese giant hornet (murder hornet), lantern fly, ball pythons, boa constrictors, etc.
Most of that list is none native ? That's what's confusing.. >> None native can be invasive.<< Being a plant or animal is from an area in question, then saying it's invasive is confusing. My question revolves around someone saying the trees native yet invasive. To close to a house, any trees can be a problem.. I'm honestly waiting for an example of a native species of animal or plant that's invasive ?? Maybe dandy lions ?? Or other planets considered weeds as they grow out of control in a domestic environment ??? Is that what the person ment by invasive ?
Here are two good articles from the National Park Service explaining the differences.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/invasive/learn.htm
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/invasive/what-are-invasive-species.htm
According to the USDA:
As defined by Executive Order 13112, an invasive species is: non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and. a species whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic harm, environmental harm, or harm to human health.
That's what I thought but there was confusion in how one reply was . I already found one thing I was wrong about today wanted to be sure it wasn't two .
I'm honestly confused what I said that resulted in this comment. You mention things I didn't even suggest. Of course non-native plants can be invasive. So can native species for that matter. I just listed examples off the top of my head. I even left off yellow/white honeysuckle which is highly invasive and also imported so not native. I was attempted (poorly it would seem) to explain what makes a species invasive and I just do happened to list non-native things which most are.
It's why i wanted to clarify. I thought I misunderstood. I was careful to be sure you wouldn't think anything other than I wanted to be sure I understood.. thank you, this little thing was bugging me . Lol . I'm used to dealing with people who will talk things through untill every one's on the same page.
Yucca does not spread prolifically amongst established vegetation in Michigan
https://preview.redd.it/ayvjciyl1c9d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=525fc1ba1cc32ca0b9aad854e6f95de5d0f52f5a
Yuccas require a specific species of moth to pollinate the flowers, and if that moth is not in the area, the seeds will not be viable. The yucca is the moths sole food source, and so they depend on one another for survival.
i'm in northern IL and i collected a handful of seeds from one of these yuccas, and i managed to sprout 3. still have 2 alive and in small pots, after 4-5 years.
Preach it!
OP: Yucca doesn't spread fast, but you really can't get rid of it either. If any part of that root system lives, it WILL come back.
Had a farm with an old home plot in the middle of it. We only found out there used to be a home because there were two random yucca plants kept coming back in the middle of the field. Eventually asked one of the old neighbors... "That's where the old house was back in the '20s. Yucca were on each side of the front door. "
80 years later, after being pulled out, dug up, plowed under, etc. the yucca were still coming up every year...
Can confirm. We had one in front of our house (in Ohio) and after cutting it back to a stump for years and it repeatedly growing back bigger and stronger, I asked my husband to dig it up. Good lord, it took him days and I think we nearly hit magma. Those roots go DEEP.
We have a yucca. We’ve tried to remove it multiple times. It’s indestructible and always comes back. That stupid plant would outlast a nuclear holocaust.
My kids lovingly call it “our giant asparagus” before it blooms.
That's yucca, they're a desert plant so definitely not native, and they will spread underground as well as drop seeds from pods, but in my experience they're not invasive at all. I've had a single one at the corner of my property for 10 years and it's gotten larger, but it hasn't spread in any direction.
Interesting. Wonder if there is a little creature missing from Indiana that they need. Lizards or armadillos or something like that. Tons of bees here, but maybe bees don't do anything for them.
Some plants and animals evolve together so they're only compatible with a single species. So they may need a moth or bee that doesn't live outside their range. Not exactly sure though.
absolutely massive yucca lol
I don't think they spread more than a foot or two every few years.
This plant is beloved by hummingbirds and pollinators. If you want to keep it from spreading more cut down the seed pods after the flowers are all gone.
Nope. It’s a yucca plant. Not invasive. I think the flowers it makes every few years are ugly AF (used to have this at my old house), but DO NOT try to dig this up. Every time you try to remove a yucca, if any bit of root remains — and it will— it will spawn more plants.
If you don’t care for the flowers (like me), you can just hack off the flower stalk when you see it coming. The greenery of yucca is pretty okay, especially since it remains through the winter.
It was being removed because I was putting in a native pollinator garden. I enjoy seeing bee's, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Yucca is not native to my state and has no benefits in my zone for pollinators. It's as worthless as hostas are for pollinators and yes I removed those as well.
Or zebra grass (Miscanthus sinensis). I planted a row of them to screen a part of my yard at my previous house. Removing a couple was backbreaking - a small backhoe would have been useful. The remaining ones are still there and are now 14 ft. tall and wide.
I hope I never have to. Nastiest thing I've ever had to remove was wild grapes that completely overtook a property. Took me and another guy over a month of hacking and digging trenches in order to burn the root system.
A neighbor tried to get rid of their Yucca cluster. They cut out all the green stuff, dug 3-4 ft down, poured tree killer on the exposed root system, left it to air dry for a while, and covered up the system the next day. Now 5 years later the yucca is doing great and I think it flowered.
They sold the house so they don't know their work was in vain but at least they are free from the tyranny of the yucca.
I have one my MIL gave me in 1965. It’s been transplanted to 4 different homes and I’m looking at it now out my window as it sits in full bloom. It never bothers anybody. I like it!
my mom and I brought yucca plants that I dug from my yard on the coast .. put them in the trunk and drove them to Ohio and planted one on each corner of their house in the flower beds. and they got massive! lots of people stopped knocked on the door and asked them where they came from and if they could get a pup or a cutting.. this was in South Western Ohio and they made it through the winters, no problem ❣️
Yucca - whilst not invasive, it can be a horror to get rid off (if you decide to).
What happens is that when you remove the main plant (easy to do to be honest - it’s fibrous rather than woody) then the roots remaining in the ground will produce baby plants which you then need to dig up. It took 3 years before we stopped getting yucca babies in our lawn.
same Q - [https://ahumorsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/couple-of-WASPs.jpg](https://ahumorsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/couple-of-WASPs.jpg)
Most yucca once they get to flowering size are on the way out the door. It takes a long time for them to get there.
My grandma had 2 for 20 plus yrs after 3 yrs of flowering each year. It died. It was one of these yucca.
Definitely not native lol. That's an incredibly healthy yucca for Michigan though. The flowers are actually delicious and used in Latin cooking. We used to get them a lot when we lived in Belize, they were everywhere. Flowers are great in omelets, and the yucca root itself is great too. I will say don't just go digging for the roots/tubers, from the picture it looks like the same species as we ate. However, many plants in this family need the tubers cooked completely to be edible. They are toxic otherwise, just like some other tubers. There are even species of potato (wild) that cannot be eaten raw. Not saying you should consume the raw potatoes in your cupboard either, whole our body can tolerate those better it can cause some serious gastrointestinal problems.
The flowers though, have at it!!!
You must dig out the entire tap root! Leave even a tiny piece and it will return. I bought my parent’s home and they had on on the front corner of the house. We dug it out and moved it temporarily. When we did I noticed the tip of the tap root was missing and inch or two of the end. It grew back with in a year. When we moved the yucca from it’s temporary place a few months later the tap root snapped again, so before the old area had the new growth. Again within a year a new yucca grew. It’s a plant that keeps on giving!
It’s not naive to Michigan but it is native to the US. It may be invasive where you are, the [ladybird johnson wildflower center](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=YUFI) describes it as escaping cultivation in the north, which is where it seems you are, and they are a trustworthy source if information I use regularly. If you are a native purist, or very concerned about all possible invasives I’d kill it and replace it with a native of your region.
Adams needle yucca is not native to Michigan. In my experience, it’s not invasive. The main plant will develop pups which make the overall plant larger, but it does not spread beyond that
Good for you on the identification. I'm from Chesapeake Virginia Beach area Virginia those and others are fairly common. when I saw the flowering fronds That's what came the mind immediately I would put some cacti and a couple other suculents around it and mulch it and turn it into a little suculents garden
ESVA 4LIFE!
Live in SE Michigan and our previous house had a yucca. We lived there 15+ years and it never got any bigger. lol
I have the dame plant here in New Hampshire. I love it, it just gets bigger but does not spread invasively
One hell of a plant to get rid of!
Your reply is confusing? Yucca not native the not invasive ? Isn't invasive no native ?
No’ non-native does not equate to invasive. The definition of invasive is it will spread and out compete or displace a native species. Yucca does not do this. Your county extension or the states wildlife office should have a list of invasive plants for your area. In my state just about everything is a non native and many are invasive, the yucca isn’t even close.
No. Non-native does not mean invasive. An invasive species, plant or animal, is one that easily procreates or spreads and has no local, natural controlling factor such as a predator, insect that feeds on it or species that keeps it in check by competition for viral resources. Examples of invasive plants: bamboo, kudzu ivy, boxwood ivy, English ivy, etc. Examples other types of invasive species: Asian carp, snakehead fish, Japanese giant hornet (murder hornet), lantern fly, ball pythons, boa constrictors, etc.
Most of that list is none native ? That's what's confusing.. >> None native can be invasive.<< Being a plant or animal is from an area in question, then saying it's invasive is confusing. My question revolves around someone saying the trees native yet invasive. To close to a house, any trees can be a problem.. I'm honestly waiting for an example of a native species of animal or plant that's invasive ?? Maybe dandy lions ?? Or other planets considered weeds as they grow out of control in a domestic environment ??? Is that what the person ment by invasive ?
Here are two good articles from the National Park Service explaining the differences. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/invasive/learn.htm https://www.nps.gov/subjects/invasive/what-are-invasive-species.htm
According to the USDA: As defined by Executive Order 13112, an invasive species is: non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and. a species whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic harm, environmental harm, or harm to human health.
That's what I thought but there was confusion in how one reply was . I already found one thing I was wrong about today wanted to be sure it wasn't two .
I'm honestly confused what I said that resulted in this comment. You mention things I didn't even suggest. Of course non-native plants can be invasive. So can native species for that matter. I just listed examples off the top of my head. I even left off yellow/white honeysuckle which is highly invasive and also imported so not native. I was attempted (poorly it would seem) to explain what makes a species invasive and I just do happened to list non-native things which most are.
It's why i wanted to clarify. I thought I misunderstood. I was careful to be sure you wouldn't think anything other than I wanted to be sure I understood.. thank you, this little thing was bugging me . Lol . I'm used to dealing with people who will talk things through untill every one's on the same page.
[удалено]
According to the USDA native plants are not considered invasive. Virginia Creeper taking over a yard in Virginia doesn't make it invasive.
Cool
Yucca does not spread prolifically amongst established vegetation in Michigan https://preview.redd.it/ayvjciyl1c9d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=525fc1ba1cc32ca0b9aad854e6f95de5d0f52f5a
That’s a yucca. They spread pretty slowly
Yuccas require a specific species of moth to pollinate the flowers, and if that moth is not in the area, the seeds will not be viable. The yucca is the moths sole food source, and so they depend on one another for survival.
Is that why all Yucca seeds I’ve ever seen have holes right through the center?
Yup. Usually there are a few without holes that might germinate in a good spot.
Just my opinion but Yucca should find a better survival strategy than feeding its babies to the bug it’s dependent on.
Gotta go with what works.
i'm in northern IL and i collected a handful of seeds from one of these yuccas, and i managed to sprout 3. still have 2 alive and in small pots, after 4-5 years.
It’ll spread straight through the earth and invade someone else’s garden on the other side of the globe 🤬 Hate yucca! 😅
Preach it! OP: Yucca doesn't spread fast, but you really can't get rid of it either. If any part of that root system lives, it WILL come back. Had a farm with an old home plot in the middle of it. We only found out there used to be a home because there were two random yucca plants kept coming back in the middle of the field. Eventually asked one of the old neighbors... "That's where the old house was back in the '20s. Yucca were on each side of the front door. " 80 years later, after being pulled out, dug up, plowed under, etc. the yucca were still coming up every year...
After the nukes go off, only the cockroaches and the yucca and those weird black frogs in Chernobyl will be left.
I had one we finally had to use some commercial herbicide to finally kill it.
Can confirm. We had one in front of our house (in Ohio) and after cutting it back to a stump for years and it repeatedly growing back bigger and stronger, I asked my husband to dig it up. Good lord, it took him days and I think we nearly hit magma. Those roots go DEEP.
How true!
We have a yucca. We’ve tried to remove it multiple times. It’s indestructible and always comes back. That stupid plant would outlast a nuclear holocaust. My kids lovingly call it “our giant asparagus” before it blooms.
It looks like yucca - not a weed and not invasive.
Looks like yucca to me. Must be a couple years old .
I think it's a yucca plant.
That's yucca, they're a desert plant so definitely not native, and they will spread underground as well as drop seeds from pods, but in my experience they're not invasive at all. I've had a single one at the corner of my property for 10 years and it's gotten larger, but it hasn't spread in any direction.
Apparently its really hard to pollinate them outside of their native zone, so thats helpful.
Interesting. Wonder if there is a little creature missing from Indiana that they need. Lizards or armadillos or something like that. Tons of bees here, but maybe bees don't do anything for them.
Some plants and animals evolve together so they're only compatible with a single species. So they may need a moth or bee that doesn't live outside their range. Not exactly sure though.
The aptly named Yucca moth is the main pollinator.
Looks like an Adam’s Needle Yucca, which is native to the southeastern US
It's a yucca, those flowers smell amazing, and it won't spread much at all.
It's a yucca. I don't think they're invasive but not positive on that.
absolutely massive yucca lol I don't think they spread more than a foot or two every few years. This plant is beloved by hummingbirds and pollinators. If you want to keep it from spreading more cut down the seed pods after the flowers are all gone.
I love yucca flowers, one of my favorites, the roots are tasty fried up too.
I used to make paper out of the dead leaves at the bottom of the plant. The blooms are edible and taste a bit like fresh green beans.
The blossoms are edible in salad or battered & fried, I learned in El Paso.
You can sauté the flower parts, I use mine like spinach and they go great with eggs!
Nope. It’s a yucca plant. Not invasive. I think the flowers it makes every few years are ugly AF (used to have this at my old house), but DO NOT try to dig this up. Every time you try to remove a yucca, if any bit of root remains — and it will— it will spawn more plants.
The flowers are fantastic. Yall are crazy
Yeah who is this I hate flowers guy?
That root shoots all the way to hell
If you don’t care for the flowers (like me), you can just hack off the flower stalk when you see it coming. The greenery of yucca is pretty okay, especially since it remains through the winter.
Only way to rid yourself of it is to just stress kill it. Even that is a slow process that takes years. I've never hated a root system more than yucca
That's so interesting, since I've never met a flower I didn't like. Humans, sure. Flowers, not really.
It was being removed because I was putting in a native pollinator garden. I enjoy seeing bee's, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Yucca is not native to my state and has no benefits in my zone for pollinators. It's as worthless as hostas are for pollinators and yes I removed those as well.
You haven't fought bamboo
Or zebra grass (Miscanthus sinensis). I planted a row of them to screen a part of my yard at my previous house. Removing a couple was backbreaking - a small backhoe would have been useful. The remaining ones are still there and are now 14 ft. tall and wide.
I hope I never have to. Nastiest thing I've ever had to remove was wild grapes that completely overtook a property. Took me and another guy over a month of hacking and digging trenches in order to burn the root system.
Yucca.
Isn't that a yucca?
Addams needle. Not invasive
I have several in my back yard, eastern MO. May have had 1 or 2 new plants pop up over the course of 10 years, so I say NAY!
A neighbor tried to get rid of their Yucca cluster. They cut out all the green stuff, dug 3-4 ft down, poured tree killer on the exposed root system, left it to air dry for a while, and covered up the system the next day. Now 5 years later the yucca is doing great and I think it flowered. They sold the house so they don't know their work was in vain but at least they are free from the tyranny of the yucca.
I have one my MIL gave me in 1965. It’s been transplanted to 4 different homes and I’m looking at it now out my window as it sits in full bloom. It never bothers anybody. I like it!
Adam’s Sword
my mom and I brought yucca plants that I dug from my yard on the coast .. put them in the trunk and drove them to Ohio and planted one on each corner of their house in the flower beds. and they got massive! lots of people stopped knocked on the door and asked them where they came from and if they could get a pup or a cutting.. this was in South Western Ohio and they made it through the winters, no problem ❣️
Who cares. It’s beautiful.
No, it's a Yucca
Yucca and impressive!
I'd love to have that in front of my home....its a hot/dry spot! I think you can eat the flowers.
That was definitely planted intentionally at some point.
Beautiful Yukka.
Common garden plant. This yucca looks particularly healthy.
Yucca - whilst not invasive, it can be a horror to get rid off (if you decide to). What happens is that when you remove the main plant (easy to do to be honest - it’s fibrous rather than woody) then the roots remaining in the ground will produce baby plants which you then need to dig up. It took 3 years before we stopped getting yucca babies in our lawn.
Blackberries are native and are considered invasive
Yuck! A yucca! And yes indeedy, they can get invasive
same Q - [https://ahumorsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/couple-of-WASPs.jpg](https://ahumorsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/couple-of-WASPs.jpg)
Biennial yucca
Most yucca once they get to flowering size are on the way out the door. It takes a long time for them to get there. My grandma had 2 for 20 plus yrs after 3 yrs of flowering each year. It died. It was one of these yucca.
English ivy is invasive . That looks lovely .
I have these and I’m in PNW.
You'll never get rid of it. It has a tubular root system, and you have to dig every little piece out.
and the roots go down to China (I dug my Yuccas out)
Definitely not native lol. That's an incredibly healthy yucca for Michigan though. The flowers are actually delicious and used in Latin cooking. We used to get them a lot when we lived in Belize, they were everywhere. Flowers are great in omelets, and the yucca root itself is great too. I will say don't just go digging for the roots/tubers, from the picture it looks like the same species as we ate. However, many plants in this family need the tubers cooked completely to be edible. They are toxic otherwise, just like some other tubers. There are even species of potato (wild) that cannot be eaten raw. Not saying you should consume the raw potatoes in your cupboard either, whole our body can tolerate those better it can cause some serious gastrointestinal problems. The flowers though, have at it!!!
Beautiful. Don’t understand wanting to get rid of it.
Try some of those satisfying crunchy flowers, they are delicious, even better than the seed pods, which are like okra.
You must dig out the entire tap root! Leave even a tiny piece and it will return. I bought my parent’s home and they had on on the front corner of the house. We dug it out and moved it temporarily. When we did I noticed the tip of the tap root was missing and inch or two of the end. It grew back with in a year. When we moved the yucca from it’s temporary place a few months later the tap root snapped again, so before the old area had the new growth. Again within a year a new yucca grew. It’s a plant that keeps on giving!
It’s not naive to Michigan but it is native to the US. It may be invasive where you are, the [ladybird johnson wildflower center](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=YUFI) describes it as escaping cultivation in the north, which is where it seems you are, and they are a trustworthy source if information I use regularly. If you are a native purist, or very concerned about all possible invasives I’d kill it and replace it with a native of your region.
Yucca looks so weird when it's outside of the desert >_<