Friday October 21, 2011

Yucca Seed Pod

A sign of Autumn

It seems like only weeks ago that our yucca plants had beautiful blooms. (It was actually sixteen weeks ago, when summer was young.)

As far as I can tell, ours is a soapweed yucca.

The other day when I was looking for signs of fall in our yard and woods, I noticed dozens of seed pods on the same (now dried) plants.

Inside each pod are dozens of flat, featherweight seeds.

Some interesting information from the internet.

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The yucca was an extremely useful plant to native Americans.

Its leaves are very fibrous. The strong fibers were used to make string and twine which was then used to make a variety of items such as sandals, mats, baskets, cloth, brushes, etc. The tips of the spines were used as needles for sewing. The roots contain a substance that belongs to a group of compounds called saponins, which have detergent properties (sapo is the Latin word for soap). The roots were made into a pulp and used as mild soap and shampoo. This, of course, is why the plant received its common English name, although other varieties of yucca and many other plants contain saponins as well. There is evidence that saponins increase a plant’s resistance to fungal attack. Parts of the plant are edible. As the plant prepared to flower, the young stalks, which resemble asparagus, were harvested and cooked. New seed pods were roasted and peeled before eaten. Mature pods were ground into flour. The spines, flowers and roots were used to make teas that were consumed for medicinal purposes.

If you are interested in finding out more information about soapweed yucca go here