Soaptree Yucca

This yucca is not a tree. But it looks like one because of its size. It is extremely common in this area.

Yucca elata is a perennial plant, with common names that include soaptree, soapweed, and palmella. It is native to the U. S. southwest, in the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts.

Native Americans used the fiber of the soaptree yucca's leaves to make sandals, belts, cloth, baskets, cords, and mats, among other items.

Inside the trunk and roots of the plant is a soapy substance high in saponins. In the past, this substance was commonly used as soap and shampoo, which was used to treat dandruff and hair loss. At least one tribe, the Zuni, used a mixture of soap made from yucca sap and ground aster to wash newborn babies to stimulate hair growth.

The Apaches also use yucca leaf fibers to make dental floss and rope. In times of drought ranchers have used the plant as an emergency food supply for their cattle.