I'm hoping someone can help to identify this wild palm/palmetto growing in the woods in Wilmington, NC. Most of the two dozen specimens are in a roughly 200-foot radius within a larger area of pines and small hardwoods. The forest floor is a deep, undisturbed mat of pine needles, and the immediate area has had little direct human disturbance for at least 10-15 years.







The tallest plants have a woody trunk 18 inches tall and maybe 1.5 inches in diameter. A striking characteristic is some of the leaves have curly fibrous edges.






Thanks for any ideas you may have!

-Tim

That is a Yucca, not a palm.

Thanks! I hadn't found a photo in my online searches that matched that very well. I imagine the seeds have somehow been spread by birds or other wildlife from nearby homes into the woods.

This message board has been really educational for me, a relative newbie to gardening and plants in general. I really appreciate all the accumulated experience here!

They produce a stalk of white flowers that will in turn produce a few seed pods.

Most likely Yucca filamentosa