Soap Plant
Chlorogalum pomeridianum
Soap plant (amole) is a California bulb sending up a tall, airy candelabra of white evening-opening flowers above a basal rosette of wavy leaves. Drought-adapted; the bulb was long used as soap. The bulb is a traditional food once thoroughly cooked (slow-baked or boiled), which removes its natural soapiness — do not eat it raw, since it's rich in saponins.
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Type
- wildflower
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 3–8 ft
- Spacing
- 1–2 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- neutral
- Bloom
- May, June, July, August
- Bloom colors
- white
- Wildlife value
- pollinators
- Landscape uses
- border
- Native states
- CA, OR