Introduction: Hey guys! Let's talk about my favorite desert plant, the Soaptree Yucca. The Soaptree Yucca is part of the Lilly family. It can live in any semi-desert climate, but it is native to the American Southwest. They grow to be about 6 to 20 ft. tall. They produce white, bell-shaped flowers. The Soaptree Yucca is used for many things incuding basket weaving. To learn more about the Soaptree Yucca please read below. Also, answer the questions and do the activity at the bottom of the page. Who am I? I am a plant that lives in places with lots of sun and dry air. I am almost 20 feet tall and I only bloom from March to April. I was part of the Agave or Aguave family, but now I am part of the Lilly Family. Where do I live?  I can live in any semi-desert habitat, even if it is cold. I am native the the American Southwest. I live in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. What do I look like? I am 6 to 20 feet tall. I hav e a trunk about 1 foot wide with one single stalk shooting up from it. My branches are about four feet long with very sharp tips. My flowers are white and bell-shaped. I also produce edible fruit. How do I reproduce? I produce from seeding and sprouting. I rely on the female Pronuba Moth for pollination. No other moth can transfer my pollen from one flower to the next. Cool facts about me? My leaves can be used for basket weaving and Native Arizonans used to use me for this reason. Also, my roots can be used in soap. My leaves used to be used to make floss and rope. Where can you find information about me? http://www.delange.org/YuccaSoaptree/YuccaSoaptree.htm http://www.birdandhike.com/Veg/Species/Yucca/Yucca_ela/_Yuc_ela.htm Actvities for the Soaptree Yucca: 1. For kindergarten: Paint a picture of the Soaptree Yucca. Use green paint for the stem of the yucca and then paint the flowers white. Different colored paper should be used so that the white paint shows up. 2. For first and second grade draw a picture of the Soaptree Yucca. Label the body of the plant as well as the leaves and flowers. 3. For third grade complete a PowerPoint on information they find on the website as well as from other sources on the Internet. They should make a slide for what the Soaptree Yucca looks like, where the yucca lives, what it needs to survive and another slide for any other information they found interesting. Also they must include a theme for their PowerPoint and pictures of the Soaptree Yucca. Make sure they cite all their sources by pasting the web addresses at the bottom of the slides. |
