Soaptree yucca
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 Large Soaptree yucca
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| Yucca elata Engelm. |
The Soaptree yucca (Yucca elata) is a perennial plant in the genus Yucca in the family Agavaceae. It is native to southwestern North America, in the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Desert in the United States (western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona) and northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora).
This plant grows from 1.2-4.5 m tall, with a sparsely branched trunk. The trunk is brown and cylindrical in shape, often having holes drilled by escaping Yucca moth larvae. The leaves are arranged in a dense spiral whorl at the apex of the stems, each leaf 25-95 cm long and very slender, 0.2-1.3 cm broad. The white, bell-shaped flowers grow in a dense cluster on a sledner stem at the apex of the stem, each flower 32-57 mm long, creamy white, often tinged pinkish or greenish.
The Soaptree yucca's fruit is a capsule 4-8 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, maturing brown in summer, when it splits into three sections to release the black seeds. They do not flower every year.
There are two varieties:
- Yucca elata var. elata. Capsules large, 5-8 cm; leaves long, 30-95 cm. Throughout the species' range.
- Yucca elata var. verdiensis. Capsules small, 4-4.5 cm; leaves short, 25-45 cm. Arizona only.
These plants fare best in dry, semi-desert conditions. They are very cold-hardy, but need lots of sunlight.
[edit] Uses
Native Americans used the fiber of the Soaptree Yucca's leaves to weave baskets. Inside the trunk and roots of the plant is a soapy substance high in saponins. In the past, this was commonly used as a substitute for soap and shampoo. Also, in times of drought ranchers have used the plant as an emergency food supply for their cattle.
