Soap Plants, or Soaproot, are mostly found in California. Here at the UC-Hopland Research & Extension Center, the Wavy-leafed Soap Plant (or California Soaproot) (Chlorogalum pomeridianum) is quite common in the understory of oak woodlands and oak savannahs. It is a perennial plant with a whitish bulb surrounded by a dark-brown fibrous sheath. The juices of the bulbs contain saponins that form a lather when mixed with water and were used by Native Americans as a soap, thus giving the plant its common name. Until the 1980s the plant was considered part of the family Liliaceae, but is now considered within the Asparagaceae family. The flowers are borne on long stems, are bisexual, and typically open only in the late afternoon or evening and remain open throughout the night when pollination occurs by flying insects.
