Soap Lily

The bulbs were roasted and eaten, rubbed on hands, hair, and cloth to be used for soap, crushed and tossed into ponds to stun fish for easy capture, and even used as a glue. The bulbs of the soap plant are covered in a coarse fiber jacket, looks almost like fur, and the fibers were often used to make brushes.

Soap Plant refers to the fluids in the plant bulb that contain saponins. These form a lather when mixed with water. Native and early Americans used the bulb as food, soap, sealant and glue. The cooked leaves and bulbs were eaten. Bulb fibers were used to stuff mattresses by settlers and for brushes by native Americans. Crushed bulbs were used in water to stun and catch fish - the saponins are toxic to fish and probably other critters. When the bulbs were baked the fluids congealed to form a glue that was used to attach feathers to arrows and sealing baskets.