Chlorogalum
| Chlorogalum Soap plant, Amole |
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| File:WavyLeafedSoapPlant.jpg | |
| Chlorogalum pomeridianum Wavy-leafed Soap Plant |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Subfamily: | Agavoideae |
| Genus: | Chlorogalum (Lindl.) Kunth |
| Synonyms[2][3] | |
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The common names Soap Plant, Soaproot or Amole refer to the genus Chlorogalum. They are native to western North America, from Oregon to Baja California, and are mostly found in California.
Soap Plants are perennial plants, with more or less elongated bulbs, depending on the species. The bulbs can be white or brown, and in most species have a fibrous coat. The flowers are borne on a long central stem, and appear to have six separate petals (not all are petals in the technical sense). There are six stamens, which are prominent in most species.
Taxonomy
The placement of the genus Chlorogalum has varied considerably. In the APG III system, followed here, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, based on molecular systematics evidence.[4] The second edition of the Jepson Manual places the genus in Agavaceae (equivalent to the APG III subfamily Agavoideae).[5] 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.[6] 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.
Species
Five species are currently classified in the genus.[2] All except the Wavy-leafed Soap Plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, have rather restricted distributions, with little overlap. The Wavy-leafed Soap Plant, however, has a range that virtually encompasses those of all other members of the genus, and is the most common of them.
- Chlorogalum angustifolium, Narrow-leaf Soap Plant, found in the inner north Pacific Coast Ranges of California and southern Oregon and the Sierra Nevada foothills
- Chlorogalum grandiflorum, Red Hills Soaproot, found in the north and central Sierra Nevada foothills
- Chlorogalum parviflorum, Small-flowered Soaproot, found in the south coastal region of California, south of Santa Barbara, and into Baja California
- Chlorogalum pomeridianum, Wavy-leafed Soap Plant, found anywhere in California except the higher Sierra Nevada and the deserts, and also in south-western Oregon
- Chlorogalum purpureum, Purple Amole, found in the Outer South Coast Ranges of California, south of Monterey Bay and north of Santa Barbara
Uses
Soaproot had a diverse range of uses. The tough fibers surrounding the underground bulb were used for creating the predominant brushes used by so many Native California Groups used in the processing of the important food of acorn flour. The second most important use of soaproot was the use of the raw soaproot bulb as a shampoo or soap for body cleansing. The saponins present in the raw bulbs would produce a substantial lather when agitated with water. These same saponins also worked as an effective fish stunning chemical. The Native California groups would pulverize the bulb, mix it in water to create a foam, and then add the suds to a stream. This would incapacitate the fish by blocking the oxygen absorption in the gills, which would cause the fish to be stupefied and to float to the surface for easy gathering. 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.[7]
Chestnut (1902)[8] 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.[9]
In literature, reference to native uses of soaproot apply principally to C. pomeridianum var. pomeridianum; the other taxa in the genus were not utilized. [10]
References
- ↑ Lindley, John 1841. Edwards's Botanical Register n. ser. 4: 54
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Search for "Chlorogalum", Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Kunth, Karl Sigismund 1843. Enumeratio Plantarum Omnium Hucusque Cognitarum 4: 681-683 in Latin
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- ↑ Chesnut, V.K. 1902. Contributions U.S. National Herbarium Vol. 7:295-409
- ↑ Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Univ. of California, Berkeley; accessions 1-2824 (comb), L-12083 (brush), 1-11871 (fiber bundle). et. seq.
- ↑ Hoover, R.F. 1940. Madrono 5:137-147.
- Pfosser, M. and Speta, F. (1999) Phylogenetics of Hyacinthaceae based on plastid DNA sequences. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 86, 852-875.
External links
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Wikispecies has information related to: Chlorogalum |
- CalFlora Database: genus Chlorogalum
- Chlorogalum genus treatment from the Jepson Manual
- Palomar College website: Soap Lilies in California
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chlorogalum. |
