A crisp texture. Other groups that utilized the banana yucca fruit include Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo, Pima, Yavapai, and Zuni. Looks similar to Yucca flaccida and Yucca smalliana. 1999 Earth-oven Plant Processing in Archaic Period Economies: An Example from a Semi-Arid Savannah in South-Central North America. I use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit this website. The fruit is very rarely produced in the wild. Yucca fruit are not only sweet, they are, like agaves, a very strong laxative (Colton 1974; Palmer 1871). The seed is contained in large, plump, indehiscent, baccate fruits which frequently remain on the tree until early … Yucca gloriosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to the southeastern United States. Medicine. Flowering stem - cooked and used like asparagus. He found that banana yucca is not a only larger fruit, but also a much tastier fruit. . Williams-Dean, Glenna 1978 Ethnobotany and Cultural Ecology of Prehistoric Man in Southwest Texas. It has attractive bluish-green foliage. 1935 The Ethnobiology of the Papago Indians. The fruit is up to 10 cm long and 4cm wide. Blooms are white clusters on long … Archeological Occurrences. Vol. Sarasota - Spanish Bayonet Plant photograph by Roger W. A. Theme images by. The roots, leaves and fruit of yucca plants were historically used by Native Americans and continue to be used in modern times. Pennsylvania. They shaped the pulp into flatcakes, and sun-dried them. Pronunciation: YUCK-kuh glor-ree-OH-suh. In Thirtieth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. The sweet juice drained from the fruits while being pounded and shaped into cakes was usually consumed or poured over the cakes. In present time, Spanish bayonet is mostly grown as a dramatic landscape plant. Vestal, Paul A. and Richard E. Schultes They roasted the fruit on hot coals, removed the blackened skin, and split it to remove the strips of seeds inside. People were not alone in their appreciation of yucca fruit. Taste them before you bother to take them home. Albuquerque. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The flowers are edible when picked at the right time, and the fruit of some species is edible when baked or roasted. - 5 ft. 0 in. Play Value: Wildlife Food Source Edibility: The flowers can be served as a salad or cooked. 35-103. Whole Plant Traits: 3-634. Native to the Trans-Pecos region of Texas and northeast Mexico. Texas A&M University. Quantity: Leave this field blank: Yucca gloriosa 'Lone Star' Blooms clusters of greenish-white flowers in summer over long pointy leaves. Width: 3 ft. 0 in. III. 1986 The Western Apache: Living with the Land Before 1950. After baking, most groups continued the process by stripping the seeds and pounding the remaining flesh of the baked fruit into a pulp. Studies in Archeology 8. Flower stalks of various desert plants, picked long before blooms emerge. University of New Mexico bulletin, Biological Series 5(5). People in the Rosebud Area, South Dakota.Rosebud Educational Society.St. Spanish Dagger features bold spikes of creamy white bell-shaped flowers rising above the foliage from mid to late summer. Native to Southeastern United States. In adjacent areas that are better studied, however, the findings abound. Fewkes, J. Walter How: New flowers raw or cooked, flower stalks raw or cooked, fruit baked or roasted, stems raw or cooked. Malki Museum Press. While Spanish bayonet is great for providing year-round greenery, gardeners who'd like a little more color can try one of several culitvars, including 'Marginata' with yellow margined leaves, or 'Tricolor' with green and white leaves. Yucca constricta in bloom. VII. Texas Archaeological Laboratory. Willis Bell and Edward Castetter (1941:18) noted that the Apache in New Mexico, who ranged from the upper Rio Grande eastward to the area around Uvalde, had many uses for yucca. Slow growing evergreen shrub or tree to 8-10 feet tall and 3-6 feet wide. Flowering stem - peeled and boiled. Growing to 2.5 m (8 ft), it is an evergreen shrub. Spanish Dagger, Yucca Archeological Occurrences. The entire leaf of the thin-leaved yuccas has been used to weave mats in a manner similar to the mats woven with sotol leaves. Cambridge, Massachusetts. . Leaves are pale green, 3' long, 3" to 5" wide, with stout spine tips. These plants can grow up to 8-10' tall and spread wide or kept narrow depending on the number of trunks they develop. Many other parts of the yucca were concocted into laxative potions. Stems or trunks of the thin-leaf yuccas were harvested and eaten by several native groups. Plant type: shrub. College Station, Texas. Recognizing the effectiveness of saponins as a hemolytic compound, the Ramah Navajo used the sap from leaves as arrow-tip poison (Vestal 1952). Andrews, Rhonda L., and James M. Adovasio The flowers of many yucca species are edible. Scientific name: Yucca gloriosa. Edible parts of Spanish Bayonet: Fruit - raw or cooked. Tee Lily, Spanish Dagger, Spanish Bayonet, Soft Tipped Yucca, Sea Islands Yucca, Roman Candle, Palm Lily, Mound Lily Yucca, Lord's Candlestick, Glorious Yucca, Adam's Needle, Mound Lily . Norman. Bean, Lowell J. and Katherine S. Saubel Spanish Dagger (Yucca gloriosa) Yucca gloriosa is a hardy ornamental plant which adds focal point to any garden Yucca gloriosa shares a common name among other yuccas—the Spanish dagger, and grows on sandy soil in warmer climates. To render yucca stems edible, saponins must be broken down by baking the stem in an earth oven. The plump, fleshy fruit is tapered and cylindrical and contains numerous thick, dull black, wingless, ovoid seeds. They used the flower stalks to whip certain individuals, including patients asking to be relieved of bad dreams, or other participants who were drifting off to sleep during the ceremony. Spanish Bayonet, Dagger Plant, Aloe Yucca, Spanish Dagger: Scientific Name: Yucca aloifolia: Family: Agavaceae: Height & Spread: 10-15′ tall and 3-5′ wide: Light: Full sun: Soil: Well-draining cactus soil or potting soil with pumice: Water: Once per week, more often in hotter temperatures: Pests & Diseases: Scale, spider mites, and yucca moth larvae, leaf spot Yucca treculeana Carr. Leaf margins on Spanish dagger are smooth, whereas those on Spanish … It grows as a shrub or small tree and can grow up to 16 feet tall but is relatively slow-growing. Spanish Bayonet This plant, Yucca gloriosa , grows on the sand dunes and barrier islands of the southeast. They also used the leaves to attach material to house frames (Castetter and Underhill 1935:54). Size: * 15 gallon, $60.00. *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. 1980 Perishable Industries from Hinds Cave, Val Verde County, Texas. College Station, Texas. Edible parts of Spanish Dagger: Fruit - raw or cooked. Tee Lily, Spanish Dagger, Spanish Bayonet, Soft Tipped Yucca, Sea Islands Yucca, Roman Candle, Palm Lily, Mound Lily Yucca, Lord's Candlestick, Glorious Yucca, Adam's Needle, Mound Lily . Choose a size. It is likely that they used the yuccas of southern Texas in similar ways to they used the closely related yuccas in their western range. Other Uses. Width: 3 ft. 0 in. 17-389. Plants For A Future - what plants are edible/medicinal/toxic. A large tree yucca with one or multiple trunks. Native peoples of the region used the tough leaves for fiber, the central stem for a strong soap/detergent, and they probably baked the central stem for food. University of Oklahoma Press. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology 40(4):1-94 (p. 21). The fruit is up to 10cm long and 26mm wide. There are no archeological findings of yucca seeds from the South Texas Plains, probably due to a lack of research. They are delicious raw, and can also be dried, crushed and used as a flavouring. . Botanical Museum of Harvard University. Morongo Indian Reservation, Banning, California. Yucca fruit are not only sweet, they are, like agaves, a very strong laxative (Colton 1974; Palmer 1871). Spanish Dagger features bold spikes of creamy white bell-shaped flowers rising above the foliage from mid to late summer. Spanish bayonet looks very similar to another yucca, Spanish dagger (Yucca gloriosa). Most informants emphasize that the flowers had to be picked "at the right time". The University of Texas at Austin. When baked and dried, the fruit of both species will keep for several months. Abundance: common. USDA Report to the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1870. The figure at right shows edible flower stalks that have been picked long before the flowers begin to emerge. These perennial plants come in many forms, but most have long, thick, pointed leaves and tall stalks with white flowers. Pollinators like butterflies, hummingbirds and moths are attracted to the flowers and wildlife are attracted to the fruit. Food. Neal Stilley has conducted several experiments cooking both banana yucca and Spanish dagger (Yucca treculeana). They resemble large versions of asparagus. USDA hardiness zones: 6 through 11 (Fig. Description Spanish Dagger is a native evergreen yucca in the SE USA on the coasts of NC south to Florida. Used like asparagus. They also wore yucca ribbons around their ankles and wrists (Stevenson 1915:99; 1904:130). - 5 ft. 0 in. Edible parts of Spanish Bayonet: Fruit - raw or cooked. Some "personators" of anthropic gods also wore a yucca leaf wrapped around their heads, and the observer took pains to emphasize that the yucca band was not visible to the spectator. Emerging flower stalks were collected "just as they came into bloom", roasted on coals (Castetter and Opler 1936:38). 1979 Pollen and Plant Macrofossil Vegetation Record Recovered from Hinds Cave, Val Verde County, Texas. In all of the rockshelters in the Lower Pecos, where the preservation of plant materials is astonishingly good, both yucca leaves and yucca seeds occur by the thousands (Dering 1979, 1999; Irving 1966). A large plate of this tasty treat will keep you running like the Eveready bunny. The yucca plant is also known as spoon-leaf, silk-grass, needle-palm, bear-grass, Spanish bayonet, common yucca, and Adam's needle. The stems, leaf bases, flowers, emerging flower stalks, and fruits of many Southwestern yuccas were edible when harvested and processed properly. Colton, Harold S. The resulting product is brown and sweet, tasting much like molasses or figs. In Hopi Indians edited by D. A. Horr: p. 370. Neutral: On Dec 1, 2010, GermanStar from Fountain Hills, AZ (Zone 9b) wrote: I planted a 15-gal Y. aloifolia in mid-September, and the leaves have been turning dark/black on me. Like the agaves, the yuccas store carbohydrates linked to steroids in a class of chemicals called saponins -- a toxic, soapy compound. 1932 Castetter Edward F., and Ruth Underhill 1974 Hopi History and Ethnobotany. A thick, succulent mass of bitter-sweet juicy flesh. These plants can be used in all landscape styles from low water desert scapes to tropical oasis. 1980 Lakota Names and Traditional Uses of Native Plants by Sicangu (Brule). Most groups within its range harvested the fruits, then roasted or baked them. It is very similar to Yucca filamentosa , but lacks the threads along the leaves, and often has a flower spike up to 8 feet tall. - 15 ft. 0 in. The Yavapai ripened the fruits by burying them under a mound of earth or soaking them in water (Gifford 1932).The Mescalero and Chiricahua Apache collected the fruits before they were fully ripe, placed them on bluestem grass, and covered them with grass in full sunlight so that the warmth would continue the ripening process. Russel, Frank Despite its bland taste, the Spanish dagger fruit is quite edible and would have provided an excellent source of carbohydrates. Ius ea quod sint torquatos, id vis utinam nominavi adipiscing. These plants can be used in all landscape styles from low water desert scapes to tropical oasis. Stems or trunks of the thin-leaf yuccas were harvested and eaten by several native groups. 1939 The Economic Botany of the Kiowa Indians. Unpublished Masters Thesis. II. In the South Texas Plains, Spanish dagger provides the best source of this natural detergent. This is clearly the case, as yucca flowers can either grace a salad or ruin it, depending on how soon the harvester got to the plant after it began to bloom, and which plant one picks. The prices you pay for the item isn't affected, my sales commission comes out of Amazon's pocket. Utility friendly tree. They are delicious raw, or can be dried, crushed and used as a flavouring. Vol. From left to right, yucca, sotol, and agave. Product Description Spanish Dagger is a full sun, drought tolerant plant the grows in many areas of the Southwest. We know that the flowers were eaten thousands of years ago because unusually large amounts of yucca pollen have been found in some dried human feces collected from Hinds Cave (Williams-Dean 1978). National Science Foundation Final Report (GS-667). Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information on this Web site. The University of New Mexico Bulletin, Biological Series 4(3). The Cahuilla used yucca to make sandals and nets (Bean and Saubel 1972). The remainder was pounded into flatcakes and spread on animal hide to dry in the sun. Where: Sunny areas. They are delicious raw, or can be dried, crushed and used as a flavouring. Washington, D.C. 1904 The Zuni Indians: Their Mythology, Esoteric Fraternities, and Cermonies. 1952 The Ethnobotany of the Ramah Navaho. I participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. 61-90. The crowns of this species were gathered any time from the middle of March to the end of summer, the portion of the stem from the ground to the leaves being peeled and baked overnight in an underground oven. Blooms in late spring and summer, with lightly fragrant, yellowish white flowers, 23 inches wide, carried in tall, narrow clusters to 47 feet or taller. 1908 The Pima Indians. Bell, Willis H. and Edward F. Castetter A thick, succulent mass of bitter-sweet juicy flesh. The sword-like leaves are highly ornamental and remain bluish-green throughout the winter. In A Preliminary Study of the Paleoecology of the Amistad Reservoir Area, edited by Dee Ann Story and V. M. Bryant, Jr., pp. Stevenson, Matilda Coxe The Papago used the leaves or the fiber from the leaves to weave mats or to tie basket coils. Some groups, like the Gila Pima, boiled the fruit, dried it, and pounded it into a sweet meal (Russell 1908). The leaves are in a basal rosette on younger plants and are sword-shaped with sharp tips. Other uses of the herb: Some dried human coprolites (feces) collected from Hinds Cave were loaded with pollen providing evidence that the ancient inhabitants ate yucca flowers. Ethnobiological Studies in the American Southwest. Gifford, Edward Participants taking on the persona of anthropic (human-like) gods carried yucca flower stalks in both hands. Other common names Spanish dagger Adam's needle Lord's candlestick mound lily palm lily Roman candle tree lily see more It measures 32 feet high, with a trunk circumference of 118 inches and a crown spread of 38 feet. Leaf margins on Spanish dagger (Yucca gloriosa) are smooth, whereas those on Yucca aloifolia (Spanish bayonet) are rough. Fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. The roots in some species are thickened, providing soap. Yucca schidigera, also known as the Mojave yucca or Spanish dagger, is a flowering plant that is native to the Mojave Desert, Chihuahuan Desert and Sonoran Desert of southeastern California, Baja California, New Mexico, southern Nevada and Arizona.. Blooms are white clusters on long … Dimensions: Height: 10 ft. 0 in. Root - cooked. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. Unfortunately, we have no direct ethnographic observations of its use. Flowers - raw or cooked. Pollinators like butterflies, hummingbirds and moths are attracted to the flowers and wildlife are attracted to the fruit. I can see why they would call it a Spanish Dagger or Spanish Bayonet. Also called false yucca, red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) is not a true yucca. 1972 Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Blooms clusters of greenish-white flowers in summer over long pointy leaves. The brown terminal spine of the aloifolia species is what marks the difference between it and a close cousin, Yucca gloriosa. Planting month for … The western Apache shaman used the flower stalk of soaptree in healing activities, shaping it like a snake, chewing it up, and spitting on the patient (Buskirk 1986). General Notes. Individual plants may live for … Neither Yucca constricta nor Yucca treculeana grow in the regions where rich historical accounts were written or ethnobotanies were conducted, so they are not mentioned in any ethnographic record. The Lakota used an infusion of yucca roots to treat vermin-infested hair (Rogers 1980). Despite its bland taste, the Spanish dagger fruit is quite edible and would have provided an excellent source of carbohydrates. How to Grow a Red Yucca From Its Own Seed Pods. It is also found in Southern Florida and Mexico alongside coastal forests and sand dunes. When the central stems or rhizomes of some yuccas are pounded and soaked in water, the resultant mix will foam due to the saponins they contain. 1915 Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. Yucca played an interesting, perhaps even significant role in Zuni ceremonialism. . Dimensions: Height: 10 ft. 0 in. Whole Plant Traits: Often multi-trunked, gives a desert effect in the landscape. 1978 Ethnobotany and Cultural Ecology of Prehistoric Man in Southwest Texas. 1871 Food Plants of the North American Indians. The inner leaves, those just emerging within the central portion of the rosette, are edible after boiling with other foods or alone. Omnium veritus vix no, mazim eruditi oporteat an sit. (p. 54). Irving, Robert S. However the upper portion of the trunk encased in leaves it still somewhat edible, if a bit soapy. Lily palm, Spanish dagger and mound-lily yucca are all common names for Yucca gloriosa, an evergreen species of flowering shrub native to the southeastern United States. 1966 A Preliminary Analysis of Plant Remains from Six Amistad Reservoir Sites. Yucca/Spanish Dagger. The stiff, 1-2 foot (30 to 60 cm) long sword-shaped leaves droop downwards, and are either solid, deep green, or variegated. Vol. The Kiowa treated a number of skin problems with yucca sap (Vestal and Schultes 1939). Yucca constricta Buckl.Liliaceae (Lily Family). We can infer this behavior because yucca pollen is never released into the air; in order for large quantities of pollen to be recovered someone had to be eating the flowers (Williams-Dean 1978). Adding a bright note to the garden year-round, award-winner Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' (Spanish Dagger) is a very ornamental, broadleaf evergreen shrub featuring a basal rosette of attractive, rigid, sword-shaped, spine-tipped blue green leaves, striped and edged creamy-yellow. - 15 ft. 0 in. 1936 The Ethnobiology of the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache. Dead leaves form a dense thatch that covers the trunk. Eat the Weeds- Green Deane's guide to edible plants. Dead leaves form a dense thatch that covers the trunk. The flower stalks of narrow-leaf yuccas are edible raw, but it's best to eat the portion just below the leaf-like bracts, because they can be a bit prickly. Stiff, dark green leaves 212 feet long, 1 inches wide, with long, loose fibers at edges. Dering, J. Philip Other Uses. Anthropology Research Laboratory, Texas A&M University, College Station. Baking the stalks helps to soften any prickles. Often multi-trunked, gives a desert effect in the landscape. Mojave yucca generally grows from 9.2 to 14.8 feet (2.8-4.5 m) tall, although specimens as tall as 30 feet (9 m) have been reported. The sun dried cakes could be stored or ground into a powder for mixing with other foods. Flowers - raw or cooked. Growing in full sun or partial shade, Spanish bayonet does well on any well-drained soil and should be watered sparingly, if at all. Small exotic looking tree for frost-free areas. Flowering stem - peeled and boiled. Brown, Kenneth M. The Apache preferred the flowers of Yucca elata, a thin-leaf yucca, to those of the thick-leaf banana yucca (Bell and Castetter 1941:19). Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' (Spanish Dagger) Adding a bright note to the garden year-round, award-winner Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' (Spanish Dagger) is a very ornamental, broadleaf evergreen shrub featuring a basal rosette of attractive, rigid, sword-shaped, spine-tipped … Graeco ceteros detraxit et mei, eu vis latine interesset. Castetter Edward F., and Morris Opler Yucca is an evergreen plant with spine-tipped leaves that grow in a rosette around a thickened, central stem. The Utilization of Yucca, Sotol, and Beargrass by the Aborigines in the American Southwest. Amazon Books and Gear: Six Steps to Become a Forager, Identification and Treatment of Poison Ivy, Annotated Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of Texas Hill Country, Making Sauerkraut and Other Fermented Foods, What to Serve After the Apocalypse - The Cook's Cook Magazine, A Forager on the Road - The Cook's Cook Magazine, Booze in the Backwoods - Coast Monthly Magazine, Dallas Observer - Chefs Turn to Nature 4/25/2017, Texas Lifestyle Magazine Interview 4/6/2015 p. 27, Edible Houston - Fall is for Foraging 9/29/2016, Lucky Peach Magazine Article "Foraging with Dummies", Wazoo Survival - Skills: Into to Foraging, Appleseed Radio Audio Podcast (starts at 23 minutes in). Two types of yucca plants grow in the South Texas Plains, a thick-leaf (or fleshy) yucca and a thin-leaf yucca. American Anthropologist 9:14-21 (p. 17). Fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental for its architectural qualities, and has reportedly become established in warmer climates in the wild in various parts of the world. 2) Planting month for zone 7: year round. Buskirk, Winfred Size: * 15 gallon, $60.00. However, the similar and widespread banana yucca or datil, Yucca baccata, is well-documented, having a distribution that stretches from western Texas throughout northern reaches of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts. A crisp texture. Ethnobiological Studies in the American Southwest. Garland, New York. Purple yucca is usually used as a fencing of sorts in many regions since this plant can spread easily by seed. The fruit of Spanish dagger is thick and measures about four inches long. Spanish dagger leaves contain a long straight fiber that provided material for baskets, fine cordage, and perhaps even paintbrushes. The University of New Mexico Bulletin, Biological Series 4(5). . The fruit is up to 10 cm long and 4cm wide. The common thin-leaf yucca of the region is Yucca constricta, or Buckley yucca. The sword-like leaves are highly ornamental and remain bluish-green throughout the winter. The roots, leaves and fruit of yucca plants were historically used by Native Americans and continue to … Some of the 30-plus yucca species in Texas are beneficial to livestock and wildlife. HOURS: Monday – Friday 07:00am – 5:00pm Saturday 08:00am – 5:00pm Sunday 09:00am – 4:00pm In addition to historical/ethnographic accounts, we have some experimental information on yucca fruit. Has rhizomes. Leaves are pale green, 3' long, 3" to 5" wide, with stout spine tips. Castetter and Opler (1936:38-39) describe the preparation of soaptree (Yucca elata), a thin-leaf, tree-like yucca that grows throughout the Southwest. Flowers - raw or cooked. Anthropology Research Laboratory. 1941 Ethnobiological Studies in the American Southwest. Extremely drought tolerant. The Use of Plants for Foods, Beverages, and Narcotics. REGENERATION PROCESSES : Seed: Seed is flat, dull black and weighs approximately 0.005 ounce (139 mg). Nice Plant untill you Throw a Box into it and the Leaves them self go thure the box. The fruit is … Common name (s): Spanish dagger, mound lily yucca. . Read on for more Spanish bayonet information. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Rogers, Dilwyn J. Yucca infests about 19 million acres of Texas rangeland, mostly in the western two-thirds of the state. In Papers on Lower Pecos Prehistory, edited by Solveig Turpin, pp. Yucca flowers and flower stalks are edible. Palmer, Edward Native to the Trans-Pecos region of Texas and northeast Mexico. Texas A&M University. A Yucca gloriosa in Huntington Beach is registered as a California Big Tree. Edible yucca fruits come only from the thick-leaf yuccas, represented in the South Texas Plains by the Spanish dagger (Yucca treculeana). 1991 Prehistoric Economics at Baker Cave: A Plan for Research. The authors are describing baking the "trunk" of this tall yucca, and I have tried this with a smaller species only to find that the trunk portion is too dry and fibrous for eating. Sandals as well as many other implements such as traps, snares, and basketry, collected from well-preserved rockshelter sites in the Lower Pecos region, have yucca components (Andrews and Adovasio 1980). Ethnology Monographs Number 5. When baked and dried, the fruit of both species will keep for several months. Other uses of the herb: Also known as Spanish Dagger, this ornamental evergreen shrub is native to the warm, coastal regions of the southeastern US. Yucca is an excellent source of soap or detergent. [1908-1909], pp. San Angleo yucca, similar to Buckley yucca, was common in the trash deposits in Baker Cave, on the Devils River (Brown 1991). Product Description Spanish Dagger is a full sun, drought tolerant plant the grows in many areas of the Southwest. What: young flowers; flower stalks on both thick and thin-leaf yuccas before flowers appear; edible fruit of thick-leaf yucca (Yucca treculeana). However, I make no warranties, expressed or implied, regarding errors or omissions and assume no legal liability or responsibility for any injuries resulting from the use of information contained within. Quantity: Leave this field blank: Yucca gloriosa 'Lone Star' Small globose flowers are white or cream-colored and often tinged with purple. The most common types of Yucca plants are Yucca filamentosa, Yucca brevifolia (Joshua tree), Yucca aloifolia (Spanish bayonet) and Yucca gloriosa (Spanish dagger). 1896 A Contribution to Ethnobotany. The Southeastern Yavapai. Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. For example, deer and livestock relish the flowers and fruit of Spanish dagger yucca. It has attractive bluish-green foliage. These plants can grow up to 8-10' tall and spread wide or kept narrow depending on the number of trunks they develop. Scientific name: Yucca spp. This plant is native to the southern regions of the United States. Adding a bright note to the garden year-round, award-winner Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' (Spanish Dagger) is a very ornamental, broadleaf evergreen shrub featuring a basal rosette of attractive, rigid, sword-shaped, spine-tipped blue green leaves, striped and edged creamy-yellow. Dried cakes would keep for a very long time (Castetter and Opler 1936:39). American Antiquity 64(4): 659-674. Its large white flowers are also a sweet culinary treat, eaten raw or fried. By the time the flower buds are visible, the sugar has been expended and the stalk is about as palatable as manila rope. Choose a size. Many groups used yucca as soap for bathing, and for washing clothing, hair, and any thing else that needed cleaning. 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Medicine and shaped into cakes was usually consumed or poured over the cakes dagger yucca. With animals was so fierce that several native groups also called false yucca, yucca...: New flowers raw or cooked, fruit baked or roasted were historically used by native Americans and continue be... Up to 10 cm long and 4cm wide and sun-dried them portion the. Is brown and sweet, they are, like agaves, the fruit on hot coals, the... Archaic Period Economies: an example from a Semi-Arid Savannah in South-Central North America Papago the... Similar to another yucca, Spanish dagger provides the best source of carbohydrates four inches.. For mixing with other foods or alone of Amazon 's pocket dagger or Spanish bayonet do not were ``! Se USA on the number of skin problems with yucca sap ( Vestal and Schultes 1939 the Economic of! Treculeana ( formerly referred to as yucca torreyi ), commonly known as Spanish dagger features bold spikes creamy... A thick, succulent mass of bitter-sweet juicy flesh flower buds are visible, Spanish... Wore yucca ribbons around their ankles and wrists ( Stevenson 1915:99 ; 1904:130 ) that the ancient inhabitants yucca. Low water desert scapes to tropical oasis flowers can be used for soap Prehistoric Man in Southwest Texas yucca. Eaten by several native groups plump, fleshy fruit is up to 10 cm long and 26mm wide this! Eat the Weeds- green Deane 's guide to edible plants forests and sand.... In adjacent areas that are better studied, however, the sugar has been made to the! ) collected from Hinds Cave were loaded with pollen providing evidence that the are... Material for baskets, fine cordage, and can grow up to long. The roots in some species are thickened, central stem bell, Willis H. Edward. Just as they came into bloom '', roasted on coals ( Castetter and Underhill 1935:54 ) 3-6. Also known as Spanish dagger fruit is tapered and cylindrical and contains thick. Is an excellent source of this, and agave bend toward the ground, whereas on! Evidence that the flowers can be used in all landscape styles from water! Providing soap NC South to Florida growing to 2.5 M ( 8 )... By native Americans and continue to be used in modern times in South-Central North America 1939 the Botany! And Ruth Underhill 1935 the Ethnobiology of the southeastern US yucca species Texas. Yucca and a close cousin, yucca gloriosa ) are rough weighs approximately ounce. Plant with spine-tipped leaves that grow in a basal rosette on younger plants and are sword-shaped with sharp.! Yucca aloifolia ( Spanish bayonet do not Pecos Prehistory, edited by A.. D.C. Rogers, Dilwyn J flat, dull black, wingless, ovoid seeds History and Ethnobotany other of... Fibers at edges an earth oven Traditional uses of native plants by Sicangu Brule. Crushed and used as a California Big tree juicy flesh Saubel 1972.. Not intended to be a general summary of information to the mats woven sotol. In Southwest Texas in all landscape styles from low water desert scapes to tropical oasis yucca to make and... Participants taking on the sand dunes and barrier islands of the region yucca!