Hesperaloe funifera

• Names and Synonyms:  
  Hesperaloe chiangii
• Common Names:  
  New Mexico False Yucca, Giant Hesperaloe, Samandoque, Yucca Funifera, Coahuilan Hesperaloe
• Family:  
  Agavaceae
• Origin:  
  Hesperaloe funifera (New Mexico false yucca) is a plant species native to Texas (Val Verde County) and northern Mexico (Coahuila, Sonora, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León).
• Height:  
  4-6'
• Width:  
  4-6'
• Cold Tolerance:  
  0 to 5°F; -17.7 to -14.9°C
• Heat Tolerance:  
  Extreme heat tolerance
• Light Requirement:  
  Full sun to very light shade.
• Water needs:  
  Very drought tolerant but can also take some irrigation. Needs excellent drainage if grown in very cold winter regions.
• Maintenance:  
  None
• Uses:  
  This is a dramatic, architectural yucca-like plant, which looks beautiful with other agaves, aloes and yuccas. It is also striking in used alone or in groups in modern archtictural settings and interesting when up lighted at night. This plant can also be grown in large containers. It tolerates a wide range of soils including clay (if not kept too wet) and alkali.
• Propagation:  
  This plant can be grown from seed or plant divisions.
• Problems:  
  None.
• Special notes:  
  This yucca-like plant grows as a rosette of 4-5’ long leaves. It does not form a stem but instead the clump thickens and eventually divides into several rosettes. It is the largest hesperaloe. It flowers from April through October with 12’ high spindly flower spikes that branch like an aerial antenna. Flowers are six-petaled with white to greenish yellow flowers. Hesperaloe funifera’s bloom spikes are not as colorful or elegant as H. parviflora, the real show are the 5’ long green to yellow green pointed narrow leaves which have curly pieces of dried leaf edge fibers attached to them. The plant's leaf fibers have brought it under study as a replacement for paper pulp. The fibers are similar to softwood, but produce a pulp with exceptional strength properties. H. funifera, like crassulas, uses CAM metabolism so it can be a very low-water use plant. When grown as a pulp crop it has to be protected from weed competition for the first 3 years as it is slow to establish. But once established can be harvested to the ground every 3 years and will grow new leaves after being cut.
• Research Links:
  
  http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/80511/
• http://plantlust.com/plants/4917/hesperaloe-funifera/
• http://www.ag.arizona.edu/~spmcl/Research/newcrops.htm
• http://www.delange.org/Hesperaloe/Hesperaloe.htm

Additional information