File:Yucca, sometimes called Spanish Dagger, is an evergreen plant with with spine-tipped leaves that grow in a rosette around a (2bbe8a9f-1dd8-b71b-0b44-5065ce95e220).JPG

A wide clump of dagger-like leaves subtends the flowering stalk of the yucca.

Yucca, sometimes called Spanish Dagger, is an evergreen plant with with spine-tipped leaves that grow in a rosette around a thickened central stem. The white to cream-colored flowers, with a soap-like fragrance, bloom from the middle of summer through autumn. The leaves contain a long straight fiber that provided material for baskets, cordage, sandals, nets, and perhaps even paintbrushes. The flowers and fruit are edible. Native American people were not alone in their appreciation of the yucca fruit. Competition with animals was so fierce that several Native American groups harvested the fruits before they ripened. They ripened the fruits by burying them under a mound of earth or soaking them in water. The fruit was roasted on hot coals, and split to remove the strips of seeds inside. The remainder was pounded into flatcakes and spread on an animal hide to dry in the sun. Dried cakes would keep for a long time. The sweet juice drained from the fruit while being pounded was usually consumed or poured over the cakes.