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Our Lord's Candle Wikimedia Commons
Asparagaceae

Our Lord's Candle

Hesperoyucca whipplei

Sacrifice and glory.

Family
Asparagaceae
Genus
Hesperoyucca
Native to
California, Baja California, Arizona
Bloom season
Spring, Summer
Type
Succulent Perennial
Height
6-15 feet (flower stalk)
Sunlight
Full Sun
Soil
Well-drained, Sandy, Rocky
Water
Very Low
Hardiness
7-11
Lifespan
Monocarpic Perennial

Did you know

  • Our Lord's Candle grows for many years as a rosette before sending up a single massive flower stalk and then dying.
  • The flower stalk can grow up to 15 feet tall and produce thousands of individual blooms.
  • It is pollinated exclusively by the California yucca moth in a classic example of mutualism.
  • Native Chumash people roasted and ate the flower stalks and used the leaf fibers for cordage.
  • The plant can take 5 to 20 years to accumulate enough energy to produce its spectacular bloom.

Color meanings

0

Devotion

1

Transcendence

2

Sacrifice

Uses

  • Xeriscaping
  • Native plant gardens
  • Fiber production
  • Erosion control