Editing Yucca (section)

==Uses==
[[File:Spun cordage, 900-1100 AD, Kayenta Anasazi, Twin Cave House, Arizona, yucca fiber - Natural History Museum of Utah - DSC07359.JPG|thumb|Spun yucca-fiber cordage, {{circa|900 CE|1100 CE}}, Kayenta Anasazi, Twin Cave House, Arizona]]
Yuccas are widely grown as [[ornamental plant]]s in gardens.

Yucca plants have provided food and fibers to humans. Several yucca species have fleshy fruits that are edible, although the seed they contain are not. Additionally, the flowers are edible both cooked and raw and the young flowering stems of some species are edible when cooked, however others may be toxic. The leaves, roots, stems, and hearts of the plants are all toxic due to high levels of [[saponins]].{{sfn|Tull|2013|p=38}}

Yucca rhizomes have been extensively used to produce soaps, shampoos, detergents and are still used to a lesser extent for this today.{{sfn|Oldfield|1997|p=6}} The leaves are still used to make trays and baskets in the southwestern US.{{sfn|Buchanan|1987|p=51}} Research efforts have been made into making use of the fibers as a substitute for [[sisal]] or [[abacá]]. However, such efforts were abandoned after conclusion of the Second World War.{{sfn|Buchanan|1987|pp=51–52}} While the strength of yucca fibers is good, their harvest is uneconomical unless the alternatives are unavailable.{{sfn|Webber|1953|p=8}}

Yucca extract, specifically from the rhizomes of [[Mojave yucca]] (''Yucca schidigera''), is also used as a foaming agent in some beverages such as root beer and soda.{{sfn|Tanaka et al. 1996|p=2}} Yucca powder is produced from yucca plants. Harvested logs are squeezed and the sap produced is then evaporated to produce the powder used in food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and as animal feed additives.{{sfn|Bononi et al. 2013|p=239}} The extract is also used to reduce surface tension in water to allow it to more easily penetrate into heavy soils during irrigation.{{sfn|Webber|1953|p=8}}

===Cultivation===
Very soon after the start of the [[Columbian exchange]] of plants across the Atlantic Ocean yuccas were planted in European gardens as ornamental plants with the first recorded bloom in England in 1604.{{sfn|Irish|Irish|2000|pp=49–50}} Though they were planted for productive uses in Mexico prior to the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire|Spanish Conquest]], it is not recorded if they used them for ornimental purposes.{{sfn|Irish|Irish|2000|p=49}} The use of yucca as an ornamental was also not well documented in the early early history of the United States, though Thomas Jefferson did grow ''Yucca filamentosa'', which he called bear grass.{{sfn|Irish|Irish|2000|p=50}}

The [[spineless yucca]] (''Yucca gigantea'') is used as a common houseplant, though sometimes under the mistaken name of ''Yucca elephantipes''.{{sfn|Hodgson|2020}} When tropical yuccas are grown indoors they do not reach the large sizes they can achieve outdoors.{{sfn|Oakes|1990|p=399}}

Yuccas are widely grown as architectural plants providing a dramatic accent to landscape design with the distinctive silhouette of their leaves.{{sfn|Nottle|1996|p=171}} They are also particularly valued for their resistance to high temperatures and drought conditions.{{sfn|Francko|2003|p=241}} They tolerate a range of conditions but are best grown in full sun in subtropical or mild temperate areas.{{sfn|Brickell|2003|p=1093}} Some of the larger species of yucca are used as living barriers and fences.{{sfn|Oldfield|1997|p=6}} All yuccas require good drainage, but are tolerant of difficult conditions such as dry and poor soils.{{sfn|Nottle|1996|p=171}} In cold climates when there is enough precipitation to collect in the crown of the yucca plant the freeze thaw cycle can damage the plant and provide an entry for damaging fungi or bacteria.{{sfn|Francko|2003|p=91}}

Several species of yucca can be grown outdoors in [[temperateness|temperate]] climates, including:{{sfn|Brickell|2003|p=1093}}{{sfn|Francko|2003|pp=241–244}}
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* ''[[Yucca filamentosa]]''
* ''[[Yucca flaccida]]''
* ''[[Yucca glauca]]''
* ''[[Yucca gloriosa]]''
* ''[[Yucca recurvifolia]]''
* ''[[Yucca rostrata]]''
*  [[Yucca × schottii|''Yucca'' × ''schottii'']]
* ''[[Yucca treculeana]]''
{{div col end}}

===Gastronomy===
[[File:Flor de izote rumbo a Naolinco 01.jpg|thumb|Harvested yucca flowers on their way to [[Naolinco]], in [[Veracruz]], Mexico]]
The flower petals are commonly eaten in [[Central America]] and Mexico, but the plant's reproductive organs (the [[anthers]] and [[Ovary (botany)|ovaries]]) are first removed because of their bitterness.{{sfn|Pieroni|2005|p=33}}{{sfn|Spurrier|2013}} Petals have a flavor reminiscent of lettuce.{{sfn|Dunmire|Tierney|1997|p=148}}

In addition to being called {{Lang|es|flor de izote}} in Mexico yucca flowers are also called {{Lang|es|flores de palma}} (palm flowers) in [[Hidalgo (state)|Hidalgo]] and [[San Luis Potosí]], {{Lang|es|guayas}}, {{Lang|es|cuaresmeñas}}, or {{Lang|es|chochos}} in [[Veracruz]], and {{Lang|es|chochas}} in [[Tamaulipas]]. In central Mexico, in more rural places they are eaten as a food, as they were in pre-Hispanic times. Bunches are sold in public markets and eaten while very fresh and tender, before they become bitter. They are also cooked with scrambled eggs or in green chile salsa in this area.{{sfn|Muñoz Zurita|2000|p=258}}

Another way that yucca flowers are served is in a sauce after roasting where they are called {{Lang|es|chochos}} in {{Lang|es|tomachile}}. It is served this way as a snack or with salads in the [[Los Tuxtlas]] region of Veracruz.{{sfn|Muñoz Zurita|2000|p=182}} In the northern Mexican state of [[Coahuila]] yucca flowers are considered a traditional food for [[Lent]].{{sfn|Muñoz Zurita|2000|p=195}}

[[File:FLOR DE IZOTE DOS.jpg|thumb|Flower petals prepared Salvadorian style]]
In [[Guatemala]], they are boiled and eaten with lemon juice. In [[El Salvador]], the tender tips of stems are eaten and known locally as {{Lang|es|cogollo de izote}}.{{sfn|Pieroni|2005|p=33}}

These Central American and Mexican culinary traditions have been imported to the United States to areas such as Los Angeles where the flowers of the giant yucca are eaten in season in scrambled eggs, [[pupusas]], and tacos. Before being used as an ingredient the petals are often blanched for five minutes, though they are also eaten raw in small amounts.{{sfn|Spurrier|2013}}

In Mexico the fleshy fruits of some yucca species are called {{Lang|es|datiles}}, the same word as for the fruit of the [[date palm]], though they are unrelated. These fruits are used to produce alcoholic drinks.{{sfn|Muñoz Zurita|2000|p=258}} The edible fruit of the [[banana yucca]] becomes significantly sweeter when cooked with the pulp having a texture similar to applesauce.{{sfn|Zachos|2021}} Raw fruits have a favor similar to [[straightneck squash]].{{sfn|Dunmire|Tierney|1997|p=148}}

===Traditional uses===
The dried and split trunks of yuccas are soft and work well for a hearth in starting fires via friction.{{sfn|Wescott|1999|p=42}}

The young stalks of the [[soaptree yucca]] (''Yucca elata'') have been consumed by the [[Mescalero Apache]]. They are roasted over an open fire and then peeled to eat the soft interior. The flowers of the same species were frequently boiled to remove their bitter flavor or the flower pistil removed, as the most bitter part.{{sfn|Tull|2013|p=38}}