Unlike the narrow-leaf soaptrees which produce dry, capsular fruits, the
wide-leaf yuccas bear fleshy fruits which Indians cooked and ate.
Indians also used the leaf fibers in weaving fabrics. Roots contain
saponin and the Indians still cut them up and use the pieces for soap,
especially as a shampoo. The stiff, fleshy leaves with needle-sharp tips
give the plant the name “Spanish bayonet.” Torrey yucca blooms in April
in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas, with similar plants, _Yucca
schottii_ in southern Arizona, and _Yucca schidigera_ in the
Mojave-Colorado Desert.
_Yucca torreyi_ Lily Family
[Illustration: TORREY YUCCA]