Soaproot (Clorogalum pomeridium) gets its common name from its use as soap by the California Indians. The plant is also called amole or amole lily.
I collected soaproot from a large patch this winter, as you can see I found it by its dried stalks and leaves, since only a few small young leaves were showing:
I made sure to leave the lower part of the root to resprout, place any seeds from the dried stalk into the hole, and re-cover it with dirt and litter. That’s how the Indians assured sustainable harvest (Anderson 2005). In fact, such gathering techniques often enhanced the growth of the bulb populations, since they co-evolved with disturbance from humans, rodents, pigs, and other consumers, they reproduce vegetatively, so the tilling and breaking up of the root, and spreading seed all act to make the population expand in number and size (Anderson 2005).
This…
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Ancestral Arts 