100-YUKKA SP
Local names: Yukka, Cassava
Family: Asparagaceae
Location: Botanical garden
Characters: The natural distribution range of the genus Yucca (49 species and 24 subspecies) covers a vast area of the Americas. It also extends to the north through Baja California in the west, northwards into the southwestern United States, through the drier central states as far north as southern Alberta in Canada (Yucca glauca ssp. albertana). Yucca is also native northward to the coastal lowlands and dry beach scrub of the coastal areas of the southeastern United States, along the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic States from coastal Texas to Maryland. Yuccas have adapted to an equally vast range of climatic and ecological conditions. They are to be found in rocky deserts and badlands, in prairies and grassland, in mountainous regions, in light woodland, in coastal sands (Yucca filamentosa), and even in subtropical and semitemperate zones, although these are generally arid to semi-arid.
General use: Yuccas are widely grown as ornamental plants in gardens. Many species also bear edible parts, including fruits, seeds, flowers, flowering stems, & more rarely roots.. Roots of soaptree yucca are high in saponins and are used as a shampoo. Dried yucca leaves and trunk fibers have a low ignition temperature, making the plant desirable for use in starting fires via friction. The stem (when dried) that sports the flowers is often used in collaboration with a sturdy piece of cedar for fire-making. In rural Appalachian areas, species such as Yucca filamentosa are referred to as "meat hangers." With their sharp-spined tips, the tough, fibrous leaves were used to puncture meat and knotted to form a loop with which to hang meat for salt curing or in smokehouses. The fibers can be used to make cordage, be it sewing thread or rope. Yucca extract is also used as a foaming agent in some beverages such as root beer and soda.