Yucca filamentosa leaves, great for cordage
Yucca, Yuca: Which is Edible?
When isn’t a yucca a yucca? When it is spelt with one “C” as in yuca.
What’s the difference? A belly ache, maybe more.
The yucca (YUK-ka) in the wild has several edible parts ABOVE ground. The yuca (YEW-ka) in the grocery store is a cultivated cassava and has one edible part BELOW ground.
Yucca, two C’s, officially is native to the hot, dry parts of North and Central America and the West Indies. However Y. filamentosa (fill-luh-men-TOE-suh) can be found as far west as Texas, north to Canada and east to Massachusetts. It is also found in humid Florida. So much for “dry”. Other yucca, who do like it arid can be found across the desert southwest of the United States from Texas to California and parts south.
I've not met a yucca blossom I could eat raw
So, what parts of the yucca are edible? Flower petals, raw or cooked though raw they usually give me a stomach ache, at best throat ache. Try your raw blossoms carefully. Try one — ONE — petal, not only blossom, one petal and wait 20 minutes. See if you throat feels dry or bitter. If so these flowers should be cooked, I recommend boiling. The young fruits raw or cooked, but they are very bitter raw, read another throat/stomach ache. They are far better roasted until tender. Scrape out the inside and separate from the seeds. The pulp, sweetened, can be use for pies or boil dry to a paste, dry in oven as a sheet. Edible as is or mix with other food. The seeds can be roasted (375F) until dry, grind roughly, boil as a vegetable until tender. Young short flower stalks long before they blossom are also edible. Cut into sections, boil 30 minutes in plenty of water, peel. You can also peel first.
For you survivalists, the yucca provides more than food. Yucca wood — read the dry flower stalk — has the lowest kindling temperature of any wood, desirable for fire starting, especially if you are using a bow and drill. Use the yucca stalk for the drill. The roots and leaves can be rubbed in water to get a natural soap (that’s what makes the yucca bitter.) With some of the yuccas you can crush the root, and shampoo with the juice. Also the leaves can be made into extremely strong cordage. Many yucca come with a needle built in at the end of the leaf, and others like the filamentosa above, shed threads.
The Yucca is the state flower of New Mexico and is pollenated by a plant-specific moth…the nocturnal Yucca moth…
Sauteed Yucca Flowers with chipotle (or a chili of your choice.)
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1 Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
* 1 clove minced garlic
* 1 diced onion
* 1 tomato
* One cup cooked Yucca flowers (boiled down from one quart fresh yucca flowers)
Salt to taste
Boil Yucca flowers in an abundance of water for about 10 minutes and drain well. Meanwhile heat the oil to medium heat, Sweat the onions and garlic then stir in everything except the flowers. Cook for about 5 minutes and keep stirring. Add flowers , stir until warm and mixed.
Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile
IDENTIFICATION: Erect plant with tall, thick central stem, 4 to 25 feet high, sometimes branched, long dagger-like leaves shedding threads, flowers tulip-like, waxy, drooping. Fruit cylindrical to 5 inches with purple skin and pulp, many seeds
TIME OF YEAR: Blossoms in late spring, early summer, fruits later in the year in northern climes
ENVIRONMENT: Usually dry but not arid areas but some species like it arid
METHOD OF PREPARATION: Six-sided fruits edible raw or cooked, rubbery and bitter, cooking helps some, flower petals raw in salads, sparingly, or fried, may be batter dipped, boiled or roasted. Better boiled. Very young flower stalk peeled and boiled. Roast seed, crush, boil until tender. Personally, I boil the petals for 10 minutes then use them. Occasionally I find a Y. filamentosa blossom I can eat raw but only one. You simply have to try them carefully. They are sweet on first taste but leave a bitter residue.
Yucca is awesome. I have to say that the blossoms are onion-like in texture but don’t taste like an onion. Kind of on the sweet/spicy side and a strange taste. I have not sampled the fruits, seeds, or young stalks yet.
The cordage from the leaves is the strongest of any natural fiber I have come across. Great under tension and some abrasion.
The dead and dry stem is a great spindle for friction sets.
I have not used the leaf coating or root for soap yet.
I really want to try using the root to wash wool. I came across this site several months ago. http://www.indianweaving.com/wool.html
Wouldn’t be nice if there is a page just for weeds images. You see something that catches your eyes but have no clue what it is. Such a page would come in handy.
The UFO page on the Green Deane Forum is along those lines.
Just saw your video on eating the Florida yucca. I live in SW New Mexico, and in my yard have a banana yucca that bloomed and now has fruits. They appears to have “sugar spots,” so I assume they’re ripe. Would I cook the fruit and seeds the same way you recommended for the species you showed?
Franky, I would leave them alone. The fruit really don’t taste too good.
I gotta disagree on this one. Several weeks ago, I found a banana yucca with huge 8-10″ long fruits on it, so I grabbed one. I stashed it in the fridge for about 6 weeks, before I was finally got around the cooking it.
I seeded it (because I want to grow it), cleaned out the fibers in the center, wrapped it in foil, and roasted it in the oven for about 45 minutes. I was totally stunned by how good it turned out! It tastes like a very sweet squash.
I don’t know if it was the extra storage time or the cooking method, but either way, it turned out really nice. Here’s a picture of the final product:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grrlscout224/10312259806/
I actually think I’ve going to use the cooked flesh in some sort of dumpling or empanada.
Hello Green Deane,
I live in texas and we have what I believe is commonly referred to as a “red yucca” in our garden. I was rather disappointed to find in my references that it is not actually a yucca at all and is actually closer to an aloe while it still resembles a yucca. Can this plant still be used in ways similar to a yucca?
No, sorry. Different species.
Can I juice the Yucca leaves?
They’re extremely tough and taste bad. I would think not.
Aside from being sharp and dangerous, could these harm horses? My horses tend to be very picky about what they eat and these would look lovely in the pasture bordering the road. It would also serve as a deterrent to leaning over fences. This acre will eventually be fenced off for an orchard and all edibles. Should I wait until they dont have access to them?
Some are edible most are not. The have a chemical that burns so most livestock avoid it.
Just saw your utube video of several growing along a road and pasture. You said they may eat them young and tender. Dont think my picky gals would eat a large, bitter one, but since they spread new, young ones, I think I’ll plant them in the yard. Husband, 5 kids, and I are striving for a completely self sufficient homestead. Cant beat a plant that offers sooo much: Edible, medicinal, fire drill, cordage, soap, and a sewing needle! I also came across a bit of info that stated you can grind the root into a pulp and use it as a fish stunner. Do you have any knowledge of this? Most on internet get it confused with the yuca tree, so Im not always sure what to believe.
Yucca root contains high levels of saponins, which indeed are poisonous to fish. Native Americans used these practices for thousands of years. When the root is pulverized and added to water it creates a foam. Once you add this to a stream it will kill or incapacitate fish, allowing for easy gathering. Great information to have on hand, but very illegal when put into practice.
Dead flower stalks are great for bean poles. I’m gathering soap tree yucca stalks, which can get over 10′ long. Very light, but strong enough for that. The banana yucca is getting ready to bloom. Yi-haw! Funny, but it’s native, yet there are none in the area. Javalina pigs will eat them, but prefer cholla. Maybe that’s why the pigs have a bad temper. Passing all those cactus spines… 🙂 Niio!
Not poisonous to humans the flowers are edible as the seed pods after boiling the spikes green things are used as soap. The flower stalks can be boiled and ate when first shooting up. Not sure about horses. Humans if eating above raw can get tummy ache as it is bitter. My dogs dig up my yucca roots and chews on them. Still alive. Unless and until I get totally mad at her and him for digging my garden s up. Lol.
I know this is an article about yucca, but you mention cassava having one edible part under ground. The leaves are eaten in much of the world after twice boiling.
Are all yucca edible? I live in NY and I was told a plant I have in my yard is a yucca plant. It grows straight up, about 6′ tall and has cream colored flowers on it. It also gets fruit. It looks like the one you picture on your page. You can cut the stalk easily when it’s green… but you need a saw if it drys.
Was curious because in caribbean amoung taino and kalinago kukra, rama, mayagnas and miskitu there arevtwo cassavas one is regular other is bitter also used for food but with skin rwmoved to make tapioca flour tortillas
Garfuna natorious for this dish
The bitter cassava variety is not sold in usa because it has to processed to leech out poisen juice aka arenic to produce baked goods.
Cassava is also used to make a type of chicha aka beer.
Sweet cassava is only one sold commersially in usa.
Leaved can be split woven for making sandals
Flowersvalso can be used for beer making.
Yucca is used in manybrecipes calling for potato or in baked goods. Calling for tapioca
Can’t swear to it, Andy, but that sounds like Yuca (with one “c”), not Yucca (“cc”). 2 very different plants with very similarly spelled names.
BTW, haven’t seen it mentioned here, but yucca (“cc”) root can also be chopped (or ground up) and boiled, and is good for arthritis. I use it regularly for my rheumatoid and osteo, and it helps a lot! ’bout a teaspoon of the ground up root 2-3 times a day (especially in the morning, ’cause mornings are the worst!).
Good search term to find more info about this is “yucca root herbalism” (without the quotes).
Bear in mind, the roots (as with most desert plants) go halfway to China. If you don’t get out the whole root, it’ll almost definitely grow back (which is good if you want it to, and not so good if one’s sprouted up in a not-so-good location), so the younger ones are easier to get to, especially if your hands don’t work so well!
One last side-note: if you want to make your beloved and beautiful Yucca Moths happy (our friendly neighbourhood Yucca pollinators), grow some Licorice Mint (Agastache foeniculum). They LOVE the flowers (and why not? They’re beautiful and tasty… if you like licorice flavour, that is).
Sorry for the long post (and um… really late. Only just caught the date on the one to which I’m replying. Oops!). I hope someone finds it helpful/useful though! 🙂
Argh… I’m a dork and only just saw the “bushmint” part. D’oh! Sorry, um… the sun was in my eyes! Yeah, that’s it! 😀 The yucca info I posted is still good stuff though <3