General info about Fruit
Hesperoyucca whipplei (syn. Yucca whipplei; Our Lord’s Candle, Spanish Bayonet, Quixote Yucca, Common Yucca) is a species of flowering plant closely related to and formerly usually included in the genus Yucca. It is native to southern California, United States and Baja California, Mexico, where it occurs mainly in chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and oak woodland plant communities at altitudes of 300-2500 m.
How to choose a ripe and fresh Fruit
The fruit is a dry winged capsule, which splits open at maturity to release the seeds.
Ways to prepare and serve the Fruit
Edible Uses
Edible Parts: Flowers; Fruit; Stem.
Fruit - the immature fruit is cooked. A bitter taste, but most of the bitterness is in the skin. Flowers - raw or cooked. They are delicious raw, and can also be dried, crushed and used as a flavouring. Flowering stem - peeled, cooked and used like asparagus. The whitish inner portion is eaten.
Health Benefits and Warnings of eating Fruit
Medicinal Uses
The roots contain saponins. Whilst saponins are quite toxic to people, they are poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass straight through. They are also destroyed by prolonged heat, such as slow baking in an oven. Saponins are found in many common foods such as beans. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish.
Other Uses
Broom; Fibre; Soap.
A fibre obtained from the leaves is used for making ropes, baskets and mats. The leaves themselves can be used as paint brushes, brooms or woven to make mats etc. The roots are rich in saponins and can be used as a soap substitute.
Classification
he plant takes several (usually 5+) years to reach maturity and flower, at which point it usually dies. Most subspecies produce offshoots from the base, so that although the parent plant flowers and dies, a cluster of clones around its base continue to grow and reproduce.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Magnoliophyta
Class:Liliopsida
Order:Asparagales
Family: Agavaceae
Genus: Hesperoyucca
Species:H. whipplei
Binomial name
Hesperoucca whipplei
Recipes made mainly with this Fruit
• Fruits can be eaten raw, roasted, or pounded into meal.
• Seeds were roasted and eaten whole or ground into flour.
• Roots pounded in water produce a lather that was used as soap and shampoo