Chlorogalum

{{for|the store in Los Angeles|Soap Plant / Wacko}} {{Short description|Genus of flowering plants belonging to the agave, yucca, and Joshua tree subfamily}} {{Italic title}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = ''Chlorogalum'' Soap plant, Amole | image = Chlorogalum pomeridianum (soap root plant) (7155017691).jpg | image_caption = ''Chlorogalum pomeridianum'' Wavy-leafed soap plant | taxon = Chlorogalum | authority = (Lindl.) Kunth | synonyms_ref = <ref name="WCSP"/><ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42518627#page/691/mode/1up Kunth, Karl Sigismund 1843. Enumeratio Plantarum Omnium Hucusque Cognitarum 4: 681-683] in Latin</ref> | synonyms = *''Laothoe'' Raf. *''Ornithogalum'' section ''Chlorogalum'' Lindl.<ref>Lindley, John 1841. Edwards's Botanical Register n. ser. 4: 54</ref> }}

The common names '''soap plant''', '''soaproot''' and '''amole''' refer to the genus '''''Chlorogalum'''''. They are native to western North America, with some species in Oregon but they are mostly found in California. Common names of the genus and several species derive from their use as soap.

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.<ref>{{citation |last=Stevens |first=P.F. |title=Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Agavoideae |url=http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/orders/asparagalesweb.htm#Agavaceae }}</ref> The second edition of the Jepson Manual places the genus in Agavaceae (equivalent to the APG III subfamily Agavoideae).<ref name=Jepson>{{cite book|title=The Jepson Manual Vascular Plants of California|year=2012|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520253124|edition=2nd|editor1=Bruce G. Baldwin |editor2=Douglas H. Goldman |editor3=David J. Keil |editor4=Robert Patterson |editor5=Thomas J. Rosatti }}</ref> 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.<ref name=FNA>{{cite book|title=Flora of North America|year=1993|publisher=Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds|location=New York and Oxford|url=http://floranorthamerica.org/}}</ref> 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. In 1999, phylogenetic studies based on molecular evidence, suggested that, along with ''Camassia'', ''Chlorogalum'' seemed to be most closely related to ''Agave'' and ''Anthericum''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pfosser |first1=M. |last2=Speta |first2=F. |title=Phylogenetics of Hyacinthaceae based on plastid DNA sequences. |journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden |date=1999 |volume=86 |issue=4 |pages=852–875 |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |language=en |doi=10.2307/2666172|jstor=2666172 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/28631 }}</ref>

The members of the genus with diurnal flowering and a chromosome count of 2''n'' = 60 were placed into their own genus, ''Hooveria'' after phylogenetic molecular research showed that ''Chlorogalum'' was not monophyletic.<ref name=":0">Taylor, D.W. and D.J. Keil. 2018. [http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/plants/sdpls/plants/pdfs/Taylor_Keil2018-Hooveria-Chlorogalum-Agavac.pdf Hooveria, a new genus liberated from Chlorogalum (Agavaceae subf. Chlorogaloideae).] Phytoneuron 2018-67: 1–6. Published 1 October 2018. [https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/2153-733X ISSN 2153-733X]</ref>

==Species== Five species are currently classified in the genus.<ref name="WCSP">Search for "Chlorogalum", {{Citation |title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/ |access-date=2012-05-05 }}</ref> 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.

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name !! Distribution |- |120px|| ''Chlorogalum angustifolium''|| Narrow-leaf Soap Plant || inner north Pacific Coast Ranges of California and southern Oregon and the Sierra Nevada foothills |- |120px|| ''Chlorogalum grandiflorum''|| Red Hills Soaproot || north and central Sierra Nevada foothills |- |120px|| ''Chlorogalum pomeridianum''|| Wavy-leafed Soap Plant || anywhere in California except the higher Sierra Nevada and the deserts, and also in south-western Oregon |- |} Formerly included:<ref name=":0" />

* ''Hooveria parviflora'' (S.Watson) D.W.Taylor & D.J.Keil as ''Chlorogalum parviflorum'' * ''Hooveria purpurea'' (Brandegee) D.W.Taylor & D.J.Keil as ''Chlorogalum purpureum''

==Uses== thumb|Soap plant growing in the forest The fibers surrounding the bulb were widely used, bound together, to make small brushes. Extracts of the bulbs could also be used as a sealant or glue.

;Cleansing At least two of the species are used for detergent properties by Native Americans and early European settlers, specifically the ''C. pomeridianum'' by tribes including Miwok,<ref>C.M. Hogan, 2008</ref> and the ''C. angustifolium'' by the Karuk people.<ref>[http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Chlorogalum+pomeridianum University of Michigan at Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany of ''Chlorogalum angustifolium'']</ref> The juices of the bulb contain saponins that form a lather when mixed with water,<ref>Soap Lilies in California, 1998</ref> making the bulbs useful as a kind of soap. This is the origin of several of the plants' common names. It was particularly used for washing hair, since ''C. pomeridianum'' at least was held to be effective against dandruff.<ref name="uofm">[http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Chlorogalum+pomeridianum Univ. of Michigan: Species entry in Moerman's Native American Ethnobotany Database: ''Chlorogalum pomeridianum'']</ref>

;Cuisine The young leaves of certain species can be used as food, but the saponins in the bulbs make these poisonous. However saponins are very poorly absorbed by the body and usually{{original research inline|date=April 2017}} pass straight through, and in any case they can be destroyed by thorough cooking. The Miwok and Chumash<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://factcards.califa.org/cai/chumash.html|title=Social Studies Fact Cards, "Chumash"|access-date=January 29, 2020}}</ref> people roasted and ate the bulbs as a winter food.<ref name="uofm"/> In February 1847 Patrick Breen of the ill-fated Donner Party recorded that a Native American gave the starving settler some "roots resembling Onions in shape [that] taste some like a sweet potatoe{{sic}}, all full of little tough fibres." Breen's son later called the roots "California soap-root"—almost certainly ''C. pomeridianum''.

;Medicinal The bulbs also had various medicinal uses, both external (for making a poultice to be used as an antiseptic, or as a rub in cases of rheumatism) and internal (decoctions were used for a range of purposes, including as a diuretic, as a laxative and against stomachache).<ref name="uofm"/>

;Fishing Many of California's Native American tribes traditionally used soaproot, or the root of various yucca species, as a fish poison. They would pulverize the roots, then mix the powder 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, and the Mattole.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=Paul |title=Survival skills of native California |publisher=Gibbs Smith |year=1999 |pages=433 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSRLW5ziVFAC&q=soaproot+fish+poison&pg=PA433 |isbn=978-0-87905-921-7}}</ref>

== See also ==

* ''Hooveria,'' which now encompasses the diurnal plants formerly placed in this genus. * ''Hastingsia'' and ''Camassia,'' which are placed in a large clade with ''Chlorogalum'' that is sister to ''Hooveria.''

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Wikispecies|Chlorogalum}} *[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/specieslist.cgi?orderby=taxon&where-genus=Chlorogalum CalFlora Database: genus ''Chlorogalum''] *[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?8349,8521 Genus ''Chlorogalum'' treatment from the Jepson Manual] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20040611225551/http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pldec198.htm Palomar College website: Soap Lilies in California] {{Commons category|Chlorogalum|position=left}}

Category:Chlorogalum Category:Agavoideae Category:Asparagaceae genera Category:Flora of California Category:Flora of Oregon Category:Native American history of California Category:Saponaceous plants