The Lily of the Southwest

"... Behold the Yucca! Its yellowish-white panicles of bloom appear luminous and stand out-fingers of light thrust up here and there from the dark earth Tiny wings catch the moonlight as they hover above this plant, their Yucca. It is the Yucca-moth, life partner of the beautiful lily..."

I T IS MOONLIGHT in Arizona! The earth is bathed in a clear, cool light that lends an air of mystery to every blade of grass. Luna, if she be watching, can see into the deep cleft that is called the Grand Canyon. Her rays dance upon the living thread of water, transforming it from its usual muddy shale to a dancing pattern of moonbeams. Monument Valley, the valley of gods, seems to move in the rich colors that the moon draws from its red sandstone, in a dance that is full of majesty, solemn and ancient.

On the desert mesas, on the high plateaus where the air seems winnowed and perpetually clarified, the night hovers like a spirit. Let the month be May, June, or July. Now stop the orchestration that the locusts are interpreting from their places in the cactus and the greasewood. For before our eyes, if we have eyes to see, Nature is performing one of hermiracles. She is bending to her most urgent needs, delicate instruments and beautiful ones to keep her pattern of life inviolate.

Behold the Yucca! Its yellowish-white panicles of bloom appear luminous and stand out-fingers of light thrust up here and there from the dark earth. Each bloom is wide open for one night, only! A breeze flutters their delicate wing-like petals, and rustles in the sword-shaped leaves thrust out protect ingly from the center, the seat of the flower stalk. And what makes that metallic glitter? Can it be star dust? Tiny wings catch the moonlight as they hover about this plant, their Yucca. It is the Yucca-moth, life partner of the beautiful lily. Neither can continue to grow and flower without the other. This romance of the animal and vegetable kingdom has kindled enthusiasm and wonder in the scientific mind ever since a Missouri professorDr. Riley, first observed and reported it in 1872.

The female moth, through thousands of generations of performing her task, has developed a structure of the mouth so that she can carry the pollen from one blossom to another. Lighting upon a blossom, she robs it of its pollen. She presses it into a ball which looks like a great drop and which may be three times the size of her own head. She flies unerringly to another flower. On this, with great precision, she lays her eggs, after piercing the tissue so that the eggs may be deposited in the right place. Now, deliberately, this tiny creature pushes the pollen into what the botanist calls the "stigmatic funnel."

The eggs, protected, soon develop into larvae. These wake to find food ready at hand in the seed of the Yucca. Clever, careful nature has provided more than enough seeds both for the

BY JOYCE ROCKWELL MUENCH AND JIMMIE BREWER CUSTODIAN, NAVAJO NATIONAL MONUMENT

The eggs, protected, soon develop into larvae. These wake to find food ready at hand in the seed of the Yucca. Clever, careful nature has provided more than enough seeds both for the moth's larvae and to mature and be scattered. When ready, the larva bites a hole in the stem which protected it and drops easily to the ground, on a thread of its own making. Once upon the ground it burrows in the loose dirt and in a cocoon that it spins, stays until the next summer. Then, awakened anew by one of those unfailing alarm clocks that need no winding, some 14 days before the plant above it is ready to bloom, it begins to come alive again. No sooner does the Yucca come into flower than its guardian spirit, the moth, bursts its drab prison walls and flutters out into the evening light with glittering wings, and the cycle is complete. Every link in the chain is forged of gossamer that is stronger than steel. The moth cannot live without the Yucca. The Yucca cannot renew its flowers and ripen fruit and scatter seed without fertilization. Few other insects come to visit the Yucca, and its structure prohibits accidental carrying of pollen from flower to flower. No man, with his most delicate instruments can so accurately and surely perform the work of this fairy creature, the Yucca moth. There is another moth that goes by the name of Produxus or more commonly as the "Bogus Moth." She looks like her cousin Pronuba but she never shares in the labor of pollenizing the Yucca. She lays her eggs in the stems and cannot live anywhere else. A further strange fact is that for each variety of Yucca there is a variety of Pronuba and Produxus moth. The "Adam's Needle" in the eastern states shares the Pronuba Yuccasella with a Yucca of the western plains known as Y. augustifolia. The Joshua tree claims the moth P. Synthetica, and the "Candle of the Lord," as the west coast Yucca Whipplei is called, has a partner who carries the name of P. maculata. We might wander all day, among the heavy books that are filled with these technical names, and dipping in here and there to track our friends of the desert, still be only beginners in our study. These scientific terms, which seem so strange to our less sophisticated ears, are packed with meaning which, when unlocked, give us new knowledge about the shape, habits, or growth of plants. But to those of us who are not learned in this field, there is still the everlasting pleasure of making friends in their own habitat with narrow-leaved and wide-leaved, short-leaved and many flowered Yuccas, regardless of name or relationship. The appealing story of the Yucca-moth has already found its way into literature. Monica Shannon tells the tale of a gypsy girl, "Mothwings," who was enchanted by a magician, a maker of only "breakable" spells. As the enchantment wore off, she met and danced for a ragged boy in the woods. On their way back As you stand in Oak Creek Canyon, gazing upon the towering cliffs of unimaginable color, see the Yuccas that give you a perspective and scale for the temples of rock.

Between Bowie and Safford, against the Piñalenos are miles and miles of Yucca and when the month is right all in bloom to the gypsy camp, they were seen by the magician and a friend who is able to make “unbreakable” spells. The two children were changed by him into a lovely moth and a “bayonet-tree.” So the moth never leaves the Yucca, which in turn offers her protection. And in the moonlight, when the exotic white blossoms are open to the night, the silvery-winged moth dances about the huge lily.

The Yucca, varied in its form and manner of growth, defining the limits of the deserts, adding its bold touch to the straggly Palo Verde, the gauche ocotillo and the more “earthly” cactus, is well worth careful consid eration.

It might be said that the Yucca has watched the world as it developed. It has seen the waters of the Colorado dig its canyon. Around it, the grass on the dry plains has departed leaving a few stragglers. It has learned to withstand the scorching winds and burning sun, the drought of the desert and the deep snows of winter. It has been tramped on in wars, when the white man fought the Indian and when the Indian raided the camp and homestead of the white man. Its fruit and leaves, its stem and roots have been used since time immemorial for a bewildering variety of purposes. And now, erect or fallen, in every stage of its career and on every hillside, it has been photographed by “dudes.” While it waves its triumphant banner of white above the bayonet-shaped circle of green leaves over large portions of North America and the Indies, its historic interest and its greater frequency here, gives us the right to lay claim to it as the Lily of the Southwest. In Arizona many of its thirty varieties flourish, and almost everyone of them has its own peculiar variety of moth which administers to it. There are picturesque names which are used, as most common names are apt to be, without entire consistency. But a perusal of some of these suggests a few of its uses and bears witness to its place in the minds of people as a familiar plant. “Adam's Needle” is found more as an ornamental plant through the southern states and up to New England. It has been suggested that the leaves were used in some earlier, more simple age, as needles.

Several of the varieties are known as soapweed or soap-tree, “amole” as the Indians call it. We will hear more of this use later.

There is the “Spanish Dagger,” the “Spanish Bayonet,” sometimes applied in a haphazard manner to the groups known botanically as Yucca glauca, Y. baccata, and Y. gloriosa (among others.) There can be no doubt as to the why of such names. The fierce leaves might be used for daggers or bayonets and the unwary desert visitor finds the unfriendly nature of those tips, soon or late.

The Joshua Tree, which is one of the Yuccas, deserves a book in itself. After incredibly many years it rises from its bed in the desert and putting out stiff, grotesque arms that seem to strive toward heaven in the manner of the ancient Joshua, becomes a tree. Scientists have watched it for as long as 20 years without being able to observe any measurable growth. So the great specimens which may be 20 to 30 feet in height, with a spread of as much as 20 feet must go back into hoary antiquity. Here again, our first conceptions of this “new land” of the southwest are put to scorn by the living creatures and the tokens of things and creatures since gone. This is an “old land” and we are the only new things in it, bringing with us our web of roads and our trailing fences, our cluttering buildings. We mark off a section and name it, while this

"... It might be said that the Yucca has watched the world as it developed. It has seen the Colorado dig its canyon. Around it, the grass on the dry plains has departed. It has learned to withstand the scorching winds and burning sun, the drought of the desert and the deep snows of winter..."

This is a Yucca bloom, the graceful flower of the Yucca Baccata, a late bloomer on the high plateau where the Navajo reservation lies.

A closeup of the Yucca bloom reveals the delicate structure of the bloom. Each individual flower is open for just one night.

The Yucca in bloom is one of the great, beautiful sights in our land, a gorgeous bouquet held high toward the Heavens.

Yucca, for example, once found conditions favorable for it over a much larger area. In southern Nevada, fossil and dung remains of the giant Yucca-feeding ground sloth, with the frightening name "Northrotherium" prove that it once grew there. Now its preserve is narrowing and unless we save some places for it, it may be one of the ancient things marked down for final extinction within our children's children's lifetime.

Pre-historic man knew the Yucca and was wonderfully clever at adapting it to his needs. Throughout the Southwest the excavation of ruins has shown us some of the many uses to which he put it. Because of the dry climate, which has saved for us many villages and cities of that long since ended Golden Age of the Pueblo people, we are able to see again how they must have lived. Morning found the pueblo-dwellers getting up from a bed of juniper bark that was made more comfortable by a mat, woven of split yucca leaves. His covering was a feather robe and had a foundation of spun yucca fibre, with the quills of the feathers bound in yucca twine. The clothes that he and his family wore had a similar yucca foundation with animal fur incorporated in the weaves for warmth during the colder months. Sandals had braided yucca soles and were held in place with ties of spun yuccafibre string. In the simply furnished room the dishes and cooking implements had been fashioned with the aid of this ever useful plant. The sifter that was used for cornmeal making was of yucca. Meat was "jerked" and hung from the wall by a yucca lead-knotted. Trays and baskets were woven or plaited of the leaves. Even the weapons that this early man used called for yucca; for the string and his bow and for rabbit snares. The women used the juice of the yucca in which to mix pigments for pottery decoration and a shredded leaf was her paint brush.

Several varieties, such as Y. baccata yields a very edible fruit, something like a banana in shape and flavor. This has served as food for animals and for man. The primitive woman no doubt collected it and perhaps even preserved it.

We have mentioned that some of the yuccas were called soap-weed, soap-tree, or soap-plant. Even in ancient times the root was dug out and carried home. There, with a "mano" or hand-ax, it was pounded to a pulp. This was placed in a bowl of water and allowed to soak. Brisk rubbing with the hands produced a fine, rich lather. When the fibrous parts were removed, the suds were ready for bathing purposes or for shampoo.

In the religious life of many peoples, the ceremonial act of washing assumes great importance. The Indians of the Southwest are no exception and we find thus that the yucca

plant, since its roots have this detergent quality.has religious significance. The "Tewa" (Indians of Arizona) are said to have washed their hair as often as once a week. It became a ceremonial act and was performed after the accomplishment not only of tasks which soiled the hands, but after a journey or before the enactment of religious rites. Before a public dance, not only the participants, but all of the observers were expected to wash their hair. In Hano, the people still shampoo their heads after a series of religious ceremonies. The dancers say that in this way they "wash off their clouds."

The Hopi too, include the yucca-suds shampoo in all their ceremonies. When a child is adopted or christened, he must have his hair washed in the suds. As each individualfather, grandfather, or any relative or friend adds an additional name to the child, he rubs the baby's head with suds.

The beautiful wedding ceremony is not complete either without the shampoo. On the fourth day of the celebration very early morning, in fact soon after the first crow of the cock, sees the families assemble for the actual marriage ceremony. The bride and her folks, and the groom and his relatives take part in the ritual. It is the two mothers who each make a bowl of Yucca lather. This is poured together into a large bowl and well mixed before being poured back into the two small bowls again. The mother of the groom then takes down the hair of the bride, while the bride's mother is doing the same for the groom. The young couple bow down into the bowls and the hair is washed and they are pronounced man and wife. The families can then claim their new son and daughter. The bodies of both bride and groom are washed, to the waist in the same water.

The old tradition of using the yucca for shampoo bids fair to being revived. Modern woman has found that it leaves the hair so soft and lustrous that beauty parlors in both Phoenix and Tucson are beginning to use it.

There is medicine in yucca, too. The root was chewed by the Indian as an emetic. Some of the Navajo sand paintings require leaves of the plant in the attendant healing ceremonies. The writer has accompanied Navajo on journeys to gather yucca leaves for ceremonies. In this respect Navajo are real conservationists. When four leaves are required in a ceremony, four leaves are gathered and no more. It is usually Y. baccata with its broad leaf and short stem that is used in the rituals. Cattle, deer, and sheep like the succulent and palatable juices of the plant which is to be found in the dry hills and high mesas of the Indian country.

The Indian has even found fun in the yucca. The clown in the Pueblo dances uses it carelessly knotted into bandoleers and drooping neckties. It seldom fails to bring a laugh.

We are not yet at the end of the uses of this sturdy indomitable members of the lily family. It may come into commercial value in making rope and cordage. Perhaps the next generation may see "Yucca Farms" and then its moth will have to be nurtured as well. If such a thing should come to pass, the mind's eye leaps at the thought of long rows of the great white pannicles of bloom, swaying in the Arizona sunlight, opening wide in the light of the moon. Here will be a sight worth traveling for!

And now do you want to see yuccas? Miles and miles of them, waving their placards of beauty as in a triumphal procession? Take the road not far from the Chiricahua National Monument, leaving Bowie and going to Safford. Set against the background of the Piñaleno Mountains they are extravagent of their loveliness with towers of white blooms in July.

You can find the Y. whipplei, which is the Southern California, "Candle of the Lord," in the Grand Canyon. The botanists don't know why it should be at the Grand Canyon, but it is there and will be seen in bloom around June.

On the high plateau where the Navajo Indian Reservation lies, after the baccata have bloomed and are ripening their large banana fruit, the elata, narrow-leaved and with more delicate blossoms will still be perfect. Instead of the pannicle with its branching flowers, so typical of most of the other varieties, this has a shorter stem with flowers set close to it.

The Joshua Tree with its bark checked into small squarish plates and its ridged leaves, you will find at elevations between 2500 to 4000 feet above sea level, from the Mojave Desert to Utah. There is a forest of them in Yavapai county, fifteen miles west of Congress Junction. North of Kingman in Mojave county is one of the finest stands of the Joshua in existence. There, in April and May you can see them in bloom. There you will see incalculable age combined with the fairest flowers of the spring. There you will see the Lily of the Southwest.

Then go back down into southeastern Arizona and drive over the Apache Pass and count, if you can, the army of bayonets, the battalions of daggers that guard the hills by day and night.

Notice as you leave Tucson how the highway department has made use of yuccas at the ends of culverts. The eye is attracted to the living posts and if you are fortunate enough to travel that way when they are in bloom you will thank, at least mentally, the thoughtful person who conceived the idea.

Yes, Arizona and the Southwest may claim the Yucca for her own. Let us claim it aloud. Remember that spot, when next you pass it, where a lone plant stands against the sky, lonely, self-sufficient, waving its pennant of bloom against the deep blue of an Arizona sky.

As you stand in Oak Creek Canyon, gazing upon the towering cliffs of unimaginable color, see the Yuccas that give you a perspective and scale for the temples of rock. They come down through the years as a heritage of beauty and they wave annually fresh banners of hope and courage. They have conquered the desert.

Let us surrender now and admit that they have conquered our hearts. The Lily of the Southwest! The beautiful Yucca!