SOAPWEED OR PALMILLA AS EMKRC.EXCY FORAGE 3 



The leaves vary from 18 to 24 inches long and have short, flattened 

 and abruptly broadened bases. The blades are % to l / 2 inch wide, 

 green, very tough and woody, with narrow white margins. They are 

 tipped with a spine. There are numerous stout white fibers along the 

 edges or margins of the leaves. These are occasionally collected and 

 woven into stout cords or ropes by Indians and Mexicans. The leaf 

 bases, already noted, are whitish in color and quite juicy, though tough 

 and leathery. The old leaves, j. e., those on the lower half of older 

 stems are usully dead and abruptly bent downward ; on the upper half 

 of the stems they are green and spreading, ascending or erect in 

 position. 



Yuccas are characteristic plants in the landscape in the spring and 

 early summer during their blossoming period. The flowers are rather 

 large, showy and cream-white in color ; they are borne in large stalked 

 panicles or clusters which grow from the ends of the leafy stems just 

 noted. The flower stalk is often 3 to 5 feet long in addition to the 

 flower cluster which may be 3 or, 4 feet long. In Yucca elata the 

 flower stalk with its flower cluster begins to grow rapidly about May 1, 

 and in this succulent condition is much relished by horses and cattle. 

 One can find occasionally hundreds of plants in a locality with their 

 flower stalks eaten by stock. After the flowers disappear and the seed 

 pods mature, the stalk dies back to the leafy stem of the plant. Accord- 

 ingly, a yucca may blossom many times without the stems or plant 

 dying, while the sotol (Dasylirion IVhceleri) and the Agave or Century 

 Plant (Aga-re spsj die entirely soon after flowering. 



The soapweed or palmilla, in common with other of our native 

 yuccas, is of slow growth and when the main stem is cut back to the 

 ground several young shoots commonly begin growth from the base. 

 In the University Cactus Garden, where occasional irrigation is given, 

 the stem of a rather mature soapweed plant was cut back to the base 

 four years ago, having been previously burned. At this time eight 

 shoots of various sizes are growing, the largest of which is 20 inches 

 high, exclusive of the leaves. It would require probably 10 years at 

 this rate for a yucca stem to grow to a height of 3 l / 2 or 4 feet from an 

 old base, and of course, a much longer period from seed. There is 

 an abundant growth of young leaves from this cluster of shoots, but 

 these are too tough and woody almost from the start to be eaten by 

 stock even with great shortage of feed. Yuccas are rather deep rooted 

 and very difficult to eradicate in cultivated areas, as many farmers in 

 dry farming communities can testify. They propagate readily from 

 root cuttings. 



Yucca elata is quite common throughout southern and eastern Ari- 

 zona and it extends eastward through southern and central New 

 Mexico into western Texas, and northern Mexico. Over considerable 

 parts of this large area it is one of the most conspicuous and abundant 

 of the larger plants. In Arizona its growth is most abundant between 

 the altitudes of 3,000 and 5,000 feet on rather level, gravelly or sandy 

 clay soils. It is usually accompanied with scattered growth of bunch 

 grasses and shrubs. Below altitudes of 3,000 feet it seldom occurs in 



