one for the plant guys

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
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Came across this plant today, while on a walk with the fam. I'm looking for an identity, ther terrain was coastal sandy soil littered with scrub pines bay berry, muellin, and some ground hugging cacti this was in a salt water estuary area in NY the plant caught my eye because the long thick leaves seemed to frey in to fine corn silk like threads which got me thinking that they might make good cordage

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incidentally it did make decent cordage
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Can't help you out RR, never been that close to salt water. The first thing I thought of when I saw all the fibres separating from the leaves was Yucca, but AFAIK, it's nothing like Yucca.

Doc
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Can't help you out RR, never been that close to salt water. The first thing I thought of when I saw all the fibres separating from the leaves was Yucca, but AFAIK, it's nothing like Yucca.

Doc
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I think you're right. Its outside of yucca's native range but they do grow all the way up into Montana so I'd think it definitely could survive a New York winter.

I think its yucca filamentosa after a winter beating. :)
 
That's cool, there where some Cacti as I mentioned.. Never even considered yucca... does yucca have an odor when the green leaves are split?? this had a slight odor EDIT just googled yucca and the refuge name and it came up..turns out that the sandy soil and the salt air produce desert like conditions that allow yucca and several other types of desert plants to grow... Go figure.
 
We always called it Spanish Sword in L.A. when I lived down there. It is some type of Yucca.
 
Yucca is one of those plants that will grow just about anywhere. Down here, I've seen them sit under a foot of water for days and not have any problem. I'm pretty sure they'll live just about anywhere that gets at least a little rain and where the ground doesn't freeze for weeks at a time. Individual species will vary, of course.

I'm not so sure about the smell of the leaves but most plants do exhibit smell to one degree or another when cut or crushed. You can use the fibers for cordage and according to Les Stroud, who demonstrated by pulling one out with his teeth, on some species you can actually get your needle and thread all in one. Some are also edible, either roots or fruits, but I don't know enough to mention species.
 
I tried the needle and thread trick, Maybe I didn't do it right but I ended up with a tip of yucca.. the leaves do make good cordage however. Thanks for helping me solve my mystery guys.
 
it looks similar to a typle of iris that my grew around where i lived in kentucky. it is some really tough stuff, and its pointy.
 
I believe most yuccas have a leaf margin that has a serration that will cut your skin. Your plant looks like more like a lily or a flax, however, I am a So. Cal plant guy, so I am not familiar with east coast stuff. What really convinces me that it is not a yucca is the way the leaf is so narrow at the base. This is very uncharacteristic of the yucca. You may want to wait til this plant flowers. Then it will be much easier to identify.
 
Rescue Riley,
I believe that Roughedges is definitely correct. It is a member of the Lily family (Yucca filamentosa). I have never seen it in NY but it definitely grows in NJ along the coast. It will get a white bell like flower.
Oldman/Marty
 
Thanks guys.... after entering in the name yucca along with the the park name I came up with an article written by a botanist that talks about yucca growing in the area...I didn't seperate the fibers in the leaf but rather, split the leaf into 4's and rolled up about 18 inches of cordage with it ,, the leaf is still green but is is STRONG....probably the strongest cordage I've made to date.
 
Riley, if you hop on over (here) to Sandy Hook,NJ you'll find many more 'strange plants' lurking where you'll blink twice after seeing them. It's true, the sandy, warm areas of the penisulas around here harbor some Southern species that make you think for a minute. I know the first time I saw cacti around the 'Hook, I was perplexed as to how it could withstand the Winter snows? Then I saw it was Prickly Pear and just harvested the fruit in the Fall, Grin!
 
Did not mean to re open this thread other than to say I was wrong. Once I fully checked it out, it is obvious. This plant guy was wrong! I need to be stripped of my leaf badge.:D My lame excuse- I am very familiar with Yucca gloriosa, but not filamentosa. Live and learn.
 
cj65 said:
Once I fully checked it out, it is obvious. This plant guy was wrong! I need to be stripped of my leaf badge.
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Heck, I'm at least as surprised that I was able to help with a plant ID for someone in New York. Usually, if it grows further north than South Carolina and doesn't have a name like... say.... maple... I'm at a loss. :D
 
Thanks for the kind words. I have a pretty good plant knowledge since I sold wholesale/retail nursery for 25+ yrs. You can never know them all, but I am pretty good with 95% of what grows in So Cal. It is good to be humbled by being wrong sometimes, it keeps me honest. I now work in weatherbased irrigation, but the plant thing will always be with me. I would love to take a class in CA natives, that would be great, because there is still alot I do not know there. I like the W&SS forum, it is growing on me.

Humbled plant guy,
CJ65
 
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