Soap Plants
Chlorogalum
Summary 4
The common names Soap Plant, Soaproot or Amole refer to the genus Chlorogalum. They are endemic to western North America, from Oregon to Baja California, and are mostly found in California.
Taxonomy 5
The placement of the genus Chlorogalum has varied considerably. In the APG III system, followed here, it is placed in the familyAsparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, based on molecular systematics evidence. The second edition of the Jepson Manual places the genus in Agavaceae (equivalent to the APG III subfamily Agavoideae). Until the 1980s, the genus was generally treated in the Lily family, Liliaceae, in the order Liliales, e.g. the Flora of North America, published in 1993 onwards, has Chlorogalum in Liliaceae. The genus has also been placed in its own family, Chorogalaceae, or in a group within the hyacinth family Hyacinthaceae (now Scilloideae), in the order Asparagales. Phylogenetic studies based on molecular evidence (e.g. Pfosser and Speta 1999), suggested that, along with Camassia, Chlorogalum seemed to be most closely related to Agave and Anthericum.
Uses 5
Many of the Native American indigenous peoples of California traditionally used soaproot, which contains saponins, as a fish poison. They would pulverize the roots, mixing in water to create a foam, and then add the suds to a stream. This would kill or incapacitate the fish, which could be gathered easily from the surface of the water. Among the tribes using this technique were the Lassik, the Luiseño, the Yuki, the Yokut, the Chilula, the Wailaki, the Miwok, the Kato, the Mattole, the Nomlaki and the Nishinam.
Chestnut (1902) describes a range of other uses of C. pomeridianum var. pomeridianum, including as an antiseptic poultice, as soap, and the extract from roasted bulbs used as a glue in attaching feathers to arrows. The leaves, on account of their flexible and semi-succulent character, were used in the process of baking acorn bread, being used to wrap the dough, which was then baked among fire heated rocks.
The abundant, tough external fibers sheathing the bulbs of C. pomeridianum var. pomeridianum were used by native peoples of California to craft brushes and combs.
In literature, reference to native uses of soaproot apply principally to C. pomeridianum var. pomeridianum; the other taxa in the genus were not utilized.
Fuentes y créditos
- (c) David Hofmann, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/23326361@N04/2992342530
- (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY), subido por Ken-ichi Ueda, http://www.flickr.com/photos/18024068@N00/2546628711
- (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY), subido por Ken-ichi Ueda, http://www.flickr.com/photos/18024068@N00/2547456594
- Adaptado por Jaishneel Raj del trabajo de (c) Wikipedia, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorogalum
- (c) Wikipedia, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorogalum
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