The one or two foot long and nearly inch wide leaves of our Lord’s candle, Yucca whipplei, certainly do not look as painful as they really are. The ridiculously sharp terminal spines can penetrate boot leather and administer a whole new experience of lingering pain! It is no wonder that, although native south of Big Sur, they are uncommon in home gardens.
Their three foot tall and six foot wide stemless clumps of dense foliage would be a very efficient barrier that does not obstruct view, but is not always permanent. Within only a few years, mature plants die after summer bloom. Their big flower stalks emerge like asparagus and grow nearly twelve feet tall, with the upper half of their height branching into hefty spikes of pale white bell shaped flowers one or two inches wide.
Tony Tomeo 
As soon as I saw the flowers, I thought “yucca.” Both the sharply pointed leaf ends and the flowers are reminiscent of our Yucca treculeana, popularly known as Spanish dagger. “Our Lord’s candle” is an interesting name. I wonder if it arose after innumerable people ran into those sharp points and exclaimed, “Oh, Lord!”
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Gee, I did not think of it like that. It is also known as Spanish dagger. Well, I suppose that several species of Yucca are.
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They sound hazardous! And the name is intriguing!
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It is hazardous! In a row, it can function as a deer fence. Although deer can jump over it, they do not get close enough to do so.
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