Beschorneria yuccoides (Mexican Lily)

Native to Hidalgo, Puebla, and Veracruz in Mexico, this evergreen succulent perennial forms clumps of soft, gray-green leaves on rocky slopes. Its arching flower stalks can reach about 5 feet tall and carry green tubular flowers with conspicuous red bracts in late spring or summer. The rosettes continue living after flowering and produce offsets that expand the clump. The species holds the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. It has escaped cultivation in New Zealand and has also been introduced to Argentina. Photographed in Ecuador.