Since our local ecosystem is mostly dominated by pitch pines, which keep our winter vistas green, it’s easy to forget that the roster of evergreen natives in our area is relatively short. Trying to add itself to the list is the Adam’s needle yucca, a washashore from the Southeast that has escaped cultivation to become naturalized on Cape Cod, seen here the morning after Sunday’s storm on Andrew Way in Truro. The species is Yucca filamentosa, named for the curling strings of fiber on the sides of its blade-like leaves. If the yucca you spot is a bit floppy, it may be Y. flaccida, a similar but less erect species; botanists swordfight over whether the two are truly distinct. Enjoy the massive five-foot-tall blooms come summer but cut the plant out of the ground should it get too aggressive in your wild areas at home.
