Health Benefits Of The Yucca Plant
Other Common Names: Mojave Yucca, Spanish Dagger, Yucca aloifolia, Yucca schidigera
Range: Southwestern N. America - California, Arizona and Nevada.
Habitat: Rocky desert slopes and Creosote desert flats below 7,000 feet.
About 30 species in the genus Yucca are found in North America, which includes the Joshua Tree.
Native Americans and Mexicans have used it for centuries to treat a
wide variety of maladies, especially headaches, gonorrhea, arthritis
and rheumatism. Indians used the yucca plant for many products. The
strong fibers from the plant made cord, cloth, baskets and sandals. Raw
flowers were eaten in salads, or boiled as vegetables. The immature
pods were roasted and peeled before eating. Dried pods and seeds were
ground into flour. The roots form a frothy soap that was both a
cleansing agent and a skin cream used for treating rashes.
The properties of Yucca which help in arthritis and rheumatism are
due to the plants' high content of steroid saponins, which are
precursors to cortisone.
Diuretics and emetics are commonly made from both the root and leaves of the Yucca.
Ground blossoms mixed with yucca suds and used to wash newborn
infants and make their hair grow. There is said to be no better tonic
or stimulant for the hair than a free application of a solution of this
juice in alcohol, water, or glycerine. Besides the Saponin, it contains
a large number of raphides, which probably add mechanically to the
stimulation.
The rotten root can be crushed and boiled to make suds. Drinking
these suds is said to induce the menopause in women, thereby rendering
then infertile.
Flowers boiled and eaten as a vegetable.
The fruits are highly palatable to a number of small birds and mammals.
Known Hazards: The roots contain saponins. Whilst saponins
are quite toxic to people, they are poorly absorbed by the body and so
tend to pass straight through. They are also destroyed by prolonged
heat, such as slow baking in an oven. Saponins are found in many common
foods such as beans. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures,
such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large
quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill
the fish.
Other Common Names: Mojave Yucca, Spanish Dagger, Yucca aloifolia, Yucca schidigera
Range: Southwestern N. America - California, Arizona and Nevada.
Habitat: Rocky desert slopes and Creosote desert flats below 7,000 feet.
About 30 species in the genus Yucca are found in North America, which includes the Joshua Tree.
Native Americans and Mexicans have used it for centuries to treat a
wide variety of maladies, especially headaches, gonorrhea, arthritis
and rheumatism. Indians used the yucca plant for many products. The
strong fibers from the plant made cord, cloth, baskets and sandals. Raw
flowers were eaten in salads, or boiled as vegetables. The immature
pods were roasted and peeled before eating. Dried pods and seeds were
ground into flour. The roots form a frothy soap that was both a
cleansing agent and a skin cream used for treating rashes.
The properties of Yucca which help in arthritis and rheumatism are
due to the plants' high content of steroid saponins, which are
precursors to cortisone.
Diuretics and emetics are commonly made from both the root and leaves of the Yucca.
Ground blossoms mixed with yucca suds and used to wash newborn
infants and make their hair grow. There is said to be no better tonic
or stimulant for the hair than a free application of a solution of this
juice in alcohol, water, or glycerine. Besides the Saponin, it contains
a large number of raphides, which probably add mechanically to the
stimulation.
The rotten root can be crushed and boiled to make suds. Drinking
these suds is said to induce the menopause in women, thereby rendering
then infertile.
Flowers boiled and eaten as a vegetable.
The fruits are highly palatable to a number of small birds and mammals.
Known Hazards: The roots contain saponins. Whilst saponins
are quite toxic to people, they are poorly absorbed by the body and so
tend to pass straight through. They are also destroyed by prolonged
heat, such as slow baking in an oven. Saponins are found in many common
foods such as beans. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures,
such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large
quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill
the fish.
- Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #30 (84)
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