August 2009 Plant of the Month —
Hesperaloe

Hesperaloe parviflora, or Flowering Texas Red False Yucca, is a great U.S. native that can tolerate the most inhospitable, heat-soaked area of your landscape. (Photo by A. Pulte.)
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Submitted by Andrew Pulte

August is a great month to take notice of plants that can really take the heat. Hesperaloe parviflora, or Flowering Texas Red False Yucca, is a great U.S. native that can tolerate the most inhospitable, heat-soaked area of your landscape. As July gives way to August, Hesperaloe parviflora (pronounced hess-per-AL-oh par-vih-FLOOR-ah) continues to show off with long bloom stalks, covered in yellow-throated, salmon to red flowers that flag above the plant’s coarse foliage. 

Hesperaloe is widely available in the horticulture trade, but it has a relatively small natural distribution. Natural populations seem to be confined primarily to Val Verde County, the Edwards Plateau and Trans Pecos regions of Texas and adjacent portions of northern Coahuila, Mexico. In your garden, this plant will attract a wide variety of pollinators from bees to bats. However, in wild populations Hesperaloe is typically pollinated by the yucca moth.

The relationship between this plant and the yucca moth is regarded as a classic example of coevolution. This delicate link has the moth actively collecting and depositing pollen from flowers, insuring the production of seeds. The moth’s progeny will feed on a small number of these seeds as the plant pays the price of pollination. Both plant and moth benefit from this wonderful natural relationship. 

In your garden, grow this plant in moderate to poor, well-drained soil in full sun. After a few years of growth you will be able to divide off-shoots or pups from the base in spring.  

Hesperaloe is in the Agavaceae family, which includes yucca, dracaena, agave and sansvieria. Where they are hardy, all of these plants will thrive in drier well-drained soil. This makes Hesperaloe an ideal addition to a hot hillside where your hose won’t quite reach. 

Andrew Pulte is a member of the faculty of the University of Tennessee Plant Sciences Department teaching courses in public horticulture. The University of Tennessee Gardens located in Knoxville and Jackson are part of the UT Institute of Agriculture. Their mission is to foster appreciation, education and stewardship of plants through garden displays, collections, educational programs and research trials. The gardens are open during all seasons and free to the public.

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Contact:

Andrew Pulte, Department of Plant Sciences, 865-974-7324

Patricia McDaniels, UTIA Marketing & Communications,
615-835-4570