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Image #'s A58-377, 378; I captured these images of Yucca plants also known as the Great Plains Yucca, Dagger Plant, Soapweed, and Spanish Bayonet. It prefers dry, rocky slopes and can be found in the western two thirds of Kansas. It tends to spread in overgrazed areas. The root can be several inches in diameter and descend up to 20 feet. When soaked or rubbed in water, the roots lather and can be used as a soap substitute. The Lakiotis used the roots in a tea for stomach aches, to make soap, and to make a solution to kill head lice. The fumes from burning roots were sometimes used to help subdue a horse that needed to be caught. The Blackfoot made a tonic from the roots to prevent hair loss. The flower stalk can be eaten like asparagus. In the Southwest, the Kiowa and Apache used the central flower spike as a food source. The leaves are thick and leathery, with spines on the tips. The Dakotas bound the sharp-tipped leaves tightly together and used the point as a drilling instrument to start fires. Yucca depends on the yucca moth for pollination. The plant cannot survive without the moth, and the moth cannot survive without the plant.
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