Richard Jamison

Yucca

Nature’s Self-Contained Possibles Bag

An average yucca root is about seven to ten inches long and one to two inches in diameter and looks like a dried sweet potato (it may look like a sweet potato, but to be sure, it does not taste like one!). Recently a company marketed a shampoo called “Yucca Dew.” Whether it actually contained any part of the yucca plant, I do not know,

Nature was truly in partnership with the early cultures. They learned, through much trial and error, to discover every imaginable function of the yucca, which lends itself to both utility and artistry in its diversity. Yucca is one of the many natural resources which was widely explored by prehistoric peoples, and can be similarly enjoyed today by anyone who will take the time to learn its secrets.

Identification

The yucca (all of its various species) is one of the most versatile plants growing in the Southwestern United States. It was used by early native American people every day in some form or another. Not only could it be harvested for food, but the fibers were utilized for cordage, baskets, sandals and clothing.

I doubt that I would be alone in admitting that I have pruned a few ornamental yucca leaves and stems when I was in a pinch for workshop materials. That being the case, I think it is worth noting here that you can find yucca almost anywhere in the United States, used in the landscaping of homes, businesses, and restaurants, including the exterior facades of many fast food establishments.

The two most familiar species of yucca are Yucca baccata (datil yucca, soapweed, Spanish bayonet) and Yucca glauca (small soapweed, Spanish bayonet). In its natural state, Yucca baccata grows all over the southwestern parts of the United States on dry plains and slopes. It can be found in the southern areas of the Rocky Mountains, west to California and south to Arizona and Texas. Yucca glauca can also be found in the Rocky Mountain area, on the eastern side of the Continental Divide, in Kansas and south to Texas and west to New Mexico.

Basically, the yuccas are easy to recognize. The plant primarily remains green all year, although some of the outer leaves may turn yellow or brown as they die to make room for more. Color may vary from bright green to blue green. Growth comes from the inside, or crown, of the plant. The leaves are densely clustered and grow from six to thirty inches in length, depending on the species. All yucca leaves are rigid but vary in shape from v to concave, and have a hard, sharp point at the end of the leaf.

In the spring of the year, a green stalk that looks a little like an asparagus emerges from the crown of the plant. Later, the young flowers start to develop, opening at the top of the stalk first. At full development, the flower stalk lengthens to support the large creamy white flowers. The yucca in blossom is very handsome, with its green spiked leaves and the lacy flowers adding beauty to the arid regions where it grows. It is during this stage that the plant is most attractive to photographers and painters and is often sought for book covers and calendars depicting the great Southwest.

Although flowers usually appear every year, fruit may not always develop. Yucca is pollinated exclusively by a small white yucca moth that stays in the flower during the day and at night carries the pollen from flower to flower. When it does develop, the banana-shaped, fleshy fruit of the Yucca baccata matures to about four to six inches long. This plant was important to the early people of the Southwest because of its abundance as a food source. Yucca glauca fruit is much smaller, developing pods only about one and a half to two inches long.

Besides size, the easiest method of telling Yucca baccata and Yucca glauca apart is the fruiting stage. Yucca baccata fruits become fleshy at maturity and the seeds remain until the pulp decays. The fruit of the Yucca glauca is dry when ripe, splitting and allowing the mature seeds to fall out.

Hereafter I will refer to both species simply as yucca since they are interchangeable for all practical purposes except as a food source—the fruit of Yucca baccata being more palatable, although the fruit of Yucca glauca is also suitable for eating if collected when immature.

The mature fruit of Yucca glauca grow in clusters on the tall stalks that support from two of three to a dozen of the fleshy pods. (Photo by Richard Jamison)

Note: The agave, (Agave sp.) or century plant, is not a member of the yucca family, but resembles yucca in many respects. In fact, it is often mistaken for a large yucca while the true yucca is mistakenly referred to as a small agave. The agaves were utilized by the Indians extensively in the southwest for food, fiber and beverages in the same manner as the yuccas, and so deserve consideration in the same context. Agaves grow further west than most species of yucca and can be found particularly in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and west to California. The leaves are much wider (up to two inches) than those of the Yucca baccata or Yucca glauca, and the stem or center stalk is much taller (eight to nine feet). The flowers grow in groups of two to six.

Uses

Most people consider plants to be either flowers or weeds. To botanists they are divided and sub-divided into various species. But to the aborigine they fell into four categories: edible, poisonous, medicinal, or constructive, and many plants fall into two, three or sometimes all of these categories. To get the most out of any plant we must also think in these terms. Not surprisingly, the yucca falls into three categories: edible, medicinal and constructive.

Fiber

The dictionary defines fiber as “any substance that can be separated into threads or thread-like structures for spinning, weaving, etc.; a thread-like root.”

We know, of course, that fiber is found in many plants, including the yucca, and before you can put these fibers to use you have to extract them from the pulp of the plant.

The best time to collect yucca leaves for fiber is in summer or fall when the stalk has completed its growth and the leaves have reached their maximum length. The safest way I have found to remove the spiny yucca leaves from the crown is to place my foot at the base of the plant and push it over. This gives me access to cut off the pieces I need. The long, wide leaves are found on the outside of the plant and the shorter ones on the inside, so it is actually easier to collect the mature longer leaves.

Yucca, and its many related species, are unique in that the fiber from narrow splits of the leaves can be used with no special preparation. When using the whole split or unsplit leaf be very careful because not only the tips, but also the edges of the leaves, are very sharp. Simply remove the point and lay the leaf on a flat surface, preferably a log, and cut it into strips about a quarter inch wide. These strips are very strong and can be used as short ties or twined, braided, or twisted together for cordage. Long pieces of yucca of this type have been found in early Pueblo dwellings where they were used to secure crossbeams.

Long, silky yucca threads are the result of the retting process which is caused by soaking the leaves long enough for the pulp to decay and separate from the fiber. (Photo by Richard Jamison)

The fleshy part of the leaf can be scraped to expose the fibers which are then extracted for further use, or the leaves can be retted (soaked) to allow the fleshy parts to separate naturally from the fibers. Prehistoric people used a stone scraper to remove the pulp from the yucca leaf, or this could have been accomplished by pulling the leaf between the teeth. I use the edge of my knife at a 90 degree angle, and with the yucca leaf on my knee, I draw it under the blade, adding pressure to scrape off the fleshy part, leaving just the bare fibers—it is usually necessary to scrape several times to remove all the pulpy material.