Yucca elata

Yucca elata is a perennial plant, with common names that include soaptree, soaptree yucca, soapweed, and palmella. It is native to southwestern North America, in the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Desert in the United States (western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona), southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora, Nuevo León). Yucca elata is widely distributed, although its population appears to be decreasing.

Description

A shrub. It grows 3 m high and spreads 1.5 m wide. It develops suckers. There are several stems covered with old dead leaves. The new leaves are light green. There are fine hairs along the edge. The flower stalk is 1.8 m high. The flowers are creamy white with pink and green tints.

Edible Uses

The fruit is a dry capsule eaten raw or cooked, growing up to 5 cm long and 36 mm wide. Seedpods are also listed as edible — one report mentions both the fruit and seedpod separately, though how the two differ is unclear. Flowers are delicious eaten raw, can be dried and crushed as a flavouring, boiled and eaten as a vegetable, or used in preserves. The flowering stem is cooked like asparagus — slow baked for several hours, then dried and broken into pieces for storage, and soaked in water to soften before eating.

Traditional Uses

The flowers are eaten raw or in preserves. The fruit are edible raw or cooked. An extract from the roots is used to produce foam in drinks.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

None known.

Known Hazards

The roots contain saponins. Whilst saponins are quite toxic to people, they are poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass straight through. They are also destroyed by prolonged heat, such as slow baking in an oven. Saponins are found in many common foods such as beans. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish.

Distribution

It is a subtropical to tropical plant. It suits hardiness zones 9-11.

Where It Grows

Australia, Central America, Mexico, North America, USA,

Cultivation

Thrives in any soil but prefers a sandy loam and full exposure to the south. Plants are hardier when grown on poor sandy soils. Established plants develop a very deep, branching root system and are very drought resistant. Plants are not very hardy in Britain, requiring greenhouse protection according to some reports whilst another report says that they are hardy to about -30°c. A slow-growing and fairly long-lived plant, some specimens may be 300 years old. In the plants native environment, its flowers can only be pollinated by a certain species of moth. This moth cannot live in Britain and, if fruit and seed is required, hand pollination is necessary. This can be quite easily and successfully done using something like a small paint brush. Individual crowns are monocarpic, dying after flowering. However, the crown will usually produce a number of sideshoots before it dies and these will grow on to flower in later years. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus. Members of this genus seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits.

Propagation

Sow seed in spring in a greenhouse, pre-soaking for 24 hours in warm water may reduce germination time. Germination typically occurs within 1–12 months at 20°C. Prick out seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle and grow on in a greenhouse or cold frame for at least their first two winters. Plant out in early summer, with some winter protection recommended for at least the first winter outdoors. Seed is not produced in Britain unless the flowers are hand pollinated. Root cuttings can be taken in late winter or early spring: lift in April or May, remove small buds from the base of the stem and rhizomes, dip in dry wood ash to stop bleeding, and plant in sandy soil in pots in a greenhouse until established. Divide suckers in late spring — larger divisions can go directly into permanent positions, while smaller divisions are best potted up and grown on in light shade in a greenhouse or cold frame until growing well, then planted out the following spring.

Other Uses

The leaves, or fibre extracted from them, are used to make ropes and mats. Leaves can be woven into shallow or tray baskets and used as a binding element in coarse coiled basketry. The roots have a red core and have been used to ornament baskets. The roots are rich in saponins and serve as a soap substitute for washing hair, the body, and clothes, and are also used as a foaming agent in beer. A slick, soap-like fluid found in the trunk has also been used as a soap substitute. The wood is light, soft, and spongy.

Notes

There are about 40 Yucca species. Also put in the family Agavaceae.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Palmella, Soap tree

References (10)

• Bot. Gaz. 7:17. 1882
• Cundall, P., (ed.), 2004, Gardening Australia: flora: the gardener's bible. ABC Books. p 1492
• Desert Survivors Online Plant Database
• Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 4
• https://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/category/edible-plants/ Edible Plants – Southeastern Arizona Wildflowers and Plants

More from Asparagaceae

Yucca gloriosa var. tristis

Ornamental yucca, Weeping yucca

Yucca grandiflora

Sahuiliqui

Yucca harrimaniae

Spanish bayonet

Yucca periculosa

Palmitos, Izote

Yucca rostrata

Soyate, Palmita

Yucca rupicola

Twisted-leaf yucca