Spanish Sword Yucca baccata

Yucca baccata (Aka Spanish Sword, Spanish Bayonet, Spanish Dagger, Datil Yucca, Banana Yucca, Blue Yucca, Broad Leaf Yucca). Yucca Baccata usually occurs as a single, stemless plant but sometimes grows in clumps forming short trunks with age. The clumps may extend as much as 20 feet in diameter, with as many as 70 rosettes. Yucca baccata is an upright shrub with long, sword-like leaves that generally point upward. The leaves are folded to create a channel that catches rain and snow, channeling the water towards the base of the plant. The leaf margins have shredding fibers, and the leaf is tipped with a sharp spine.
Yuccas are a co-evolution story: their only pollinators are particular, night-flying moths. In return for the favor, the moth larvae eat some of the seeds. All yucca's but one are pollinated exclusively by the moths(Yucca aloifolia is pollinated by bees).As with "Soapweed", this yucca is a valuable supply of fiber, such as sisal hemp. Indians used yucca leaves for making baskets, rope, sandals and cloth. Dried yucca leaves and trunk fiber have a low ignition temperature, making the plant desirable for starting fires via friction. Medicinal Uses: Early Americans used the saponin-rich roots and leaves as a shampoo to promote hair growth and to combat lice. These same saponins (precursors of cortisone) are responsible for many of the yuccas' traditional uses as medicine. Decoctions of the stems and leaves treated gastrointestinal ailments such as heartburn and served as a laxative. Also, seeds were roasted in ovens and used as laxatives. Poultices of the grated roots (sometimes applied hot) were used to treat sprains and cuts, and the roots, stems and leaves were used to prepare tinctures, salves and liniments to relieve the pain of arthritis and rheumatism.

The Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest utilized the datil yucca for food as well as utilitarian products. The fleshy fruits were eaten green or dried and stored for winter consumption. Baked, the fruit has a flavor which is reportedly similar to potatoes. In some pueblos, the datil pulp was mixed with berries and made into cakes that could be dried for winter use. The young flower stalks were also eaten, like asparagus.

From the roots comes shampoo, which has been used both prehistorically and historically. The dry roots were pounded by the Indians then whisked into cold water to create suds. The saponin-rich roots create a soap like lather which can be used in cleaning. The suds were used to wash the hair in both personal and spiritual cleansing. The white frothy suds reminded Native Americans of the large summer thunderstorms which cleansed the landscape with their rain showers, thus, datil yucca suds represented a spiritual cleansing of the person.

In more recent times, Yucca-Dew Shampoo was a commercial product that utilized the sudsing agent of a yucca plant. Shasta root beer contains yucca on its list of ingredients; the yucca ingredient creates the soda's white, foamy head.

The woodrat or packrat chews through the base of the leaves to separate them from the plant. The rodent then takes the leaves back to its burrow and arranges them on the outer portion of its "conglomerate" nest, which is made up of twigs, cactus pads, animal droppings and shiny human objects like spoons or coins. Occasionally, deer nip off the developing stalks from the plant and eat them.

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