1. Yucca arkansana Trel. (soapweed)

Pl. 22 a, b; Map 82

Yucca glauca Nutt. var. mollis Engelm.

Stems reduced to a perennial caudex. Leaves 8B50 cm long, 1.0B2.5 cm wide, somewhat glaucous, straight and leathery but not stiff, narrowly lanceolate with acute but not spine-tipped apex and white, peeling, fibrous margins. Inflorescences racemes to 1 m long, erect or ascending, usually with a few short basal branches, short-stalked with the base of the flowering portion partially hidden by the leaves. Tepals 3.5B5.0 cm long, ovate-lanceolate, the tips rounded to bluntly pointed, green or yellowish white, sometimes tinged pale purple. Seeds 8B10 mm wide. 2n=60. Late MayBlate June.

Scattered in the southern portion of the Ozark Division, along the Arkansas border (Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas). Dolomite glades, open, rocky woods, and roadsides.

This taxon has been treated as a variety of Yucca glauca, but it appears relatively distinct in both morphology and geographic range. The roots contain saponins that were used as a soap substitute by pioneers and American Indians. The seeds are edible and were eaten raw or roasted or sometimes ground into a flour.