A virtually stemless broadleaf evergreen shrub (though it looks more like a perennial than a shrub) native to beaches, sand dunes and fields from South Carolina south to Florida and Mississippi. It has escaped cultivation and naturalized north into New England. A rosette of rigid, sword-shaped, spine-tipped green leaves grow up to 30” long with long curly threads along the margins. Leaves form a foliage clump to 2-3’ tall. In late spring, a flowering stalk rises from the center of each rosette, typically to 5-8’ tall, but infrequently to 12’ tall with panicles of nodding bell-shaped creamy white flowers. Plants form colonies over time.