Species · genus Yucca · Asparagaceae

St. Peter's Palm

Yucca filifera Chabaud

Also known as: Palma China

Growth habit

tree

Native range

Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest

Reference · Y. filifera

Cultivars of Y. filifera

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under Y. filifera yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Yucca filifera is a tree-forming yucca from the arid and semi-arid regions of central and northern Mexico, built to store water and tolerate drought. Give it the brightest, sunniest spot you have and a gritty, fast-draining mix, watering deeply only when the soil has dried out fully — wait until at least the top several inches are dry, then water thoroughly. It rots if left sitting in damp soil, so err toward keeping it too dry rather than too wet.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 28 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

7–34 °C

Soil mix

Sandy, sharply draining cactus mix

Propagation

Seed or offsets

Fertilizing

Light cactus feed once or twice in summer

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Rarely flowers indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs

Saponins — vomiting, drooling. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ASPCA

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow St. Peter's Palm yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.