Native to the southwest of North America and to Mexico, this plant has one of the fastest growing inflorescences of any plant and can grow over three metres in two weeks. Large white waxy bells are suspended from the towering branched stem, opening from the base upwards and giving rise to its common name of our Lord's candle.
The individual flowers are most strongly scented at night to attract the female yucca moth (Tegeticula maculata), with which it has a unique symbiotic relationship. The yucca moth gathers pollen from one flower before flying to another. She then lays a single egg in the ovary before proceeding to deposit the pollen she has gathered on the stigma ensuring pollination. Some of the ovules (immature seeds) provide a continuing food supply for the larva; the rest grow into mature seeds to produce another generation of plants.