Soap Root

Soap Root pollinated by moths.

Unspotted blossom,

A-sway in the heat,

Thanks for the Castile

That lies at your feet.

       The flowers we have been studying open their hearts to the sun in the morning. Most flowers do that. They love the early sunshine. However, there are some flowers that seem to hate to get up in the morning, just as some little boys and girls do. 

       Do you all know the California Soap Root? If you have camped out in your summer vacation, perhaps you have used the root to clean the grime off your hands. You like it because it makes those soft suds that make your hands feel nice. Perhaps that is just why the plant does not like moisture. Perhaps it is afraid that if it touches much water it will melt into soapsuds and float away in rainbow bubbles for the Fairies.

       At any rate, you do not find its flowers in the Spring when the air may be damp. The long green leaves are out, spread on warm rocky hillsides. They have little earth to draw moisture from, but they grow longer all the time. The flower does not bloom until summer. Even in that warm season, it does not open until in the afternoon. Then the air is sure to be well heated.

       The Soap Root has six regular floral parts like Fritillaria but they are different from hers in shape and in color. Botanists say they are ''tongue shaped.'' Does not that describe them well? They are long and narrow. They end in a roundish point. Their sides curve in. 

       Because she comes out in warm weather, Soap Root does not need an overcoat on her flower buds, as Iris does. She sends up many buds along the main stem and along branch stems. They spread out wide into six white waxy parts, with a purple line down the middle. While the sides of the floral parts curve inward, the tips curve backward from the center.

       The six stamens rise up tall and then bend toward the outside. The dark anthers swing loosely on their tops.

       The pistil comes up in the center of the stamen ring. The little stigma knob at its top divides into three lobes.

       Just as some flowers open in the late afternoon, some insects come out then to feed. Mrs. White Moth sleeps in the early half of the day and comes out late looking for a meal. She becomes almost discouraged. Flower after flower she finds closed. Can she find no meal? And she so hungry? Her wings begin to droop.

       Suddenly up she tosses her head. What are those white waxy stars waving in the lower air. Stars should be higher up. She fairly flings herself through the air to reach them. Aha! Food! And a very good food at that. She gains new strength and courage. She goes from blossom to blossom, and you know what happens?

       When the Soap Root seed-case ripens, she does not cast off her sepals and petals. She dries them into purple and twists them over the seed-case. The seed-case is shaped something like a top. See if it spins to send its little round seeds out.

       We can easily see what gives Soap Root its common name. The root has been used by all the peoples who have lived in California. The native people washed themselves with suds made from it. They also used it in a way that our Law to-day will not let us. The native women knelt down by a pool and made it all white with Soap Root suds. The fish did not like that mixture, so they floated on the top as if half asleep. Then, the women caught them in their hands and filled many baskets with them. What they did not wish to eat fresh, they hung on the bushes to dry. Then, they had dried fish when none were to be caught.

       The Spanish Californians used the Soap Root for washing their clothes. Washing Day was not disliked in their time. It was really a sort of picnic. Baskets of soiled clothes were carried down to the creek bank. Camp fires were made under large copper tubs which were filled with the creek water.

       The clothes were soaked in the creek water and well rubbed with Soap Root. Then they were boiled in these copper tubs in Soap Root suds. Next these were rinsed in the clear creek water many times. After washing, the clothes were spread out on the grass to dry in the fresh air and bright sunshine.  How white those clothes were and how sweet they smelled! 

       I said Washing Day was like a picnic. It was. The washers ate their game and tortillas by the stream. In those days, people travelled mostly on horseback. There were few roads between Northern California and Southern California. People rode on trails. Most trails followed along the creeks. So, the washers often saw a horseman coming from a distant part of the State before he got to the ranch or to the town.

       They would hail him. He always stopped to talk with them. Sometimes he lingered to eat with them. He used to tell them all the news of the place from which he came. The washers used to know the news before the other people did. So, when the Americans came to the country and the General wanted to learn the latest news from Los Angeles, he sent his scout to the washing-pool. They used to call this way of getting the news "The Washerwoman's Mail."

      When the Forty-Niners were digging gold in the Mountains, they were very glad to have Soap Rootto wash themselves and their clothes. Soap was not so common in those days as it is with us. And besides, it would be heavy to pack the miles into the mining country. So, they looked on Soap Root as one of their friends who made their lives easier.

       If you want to have fine glossy hair, use the root as the Spanish Californians did. Make a good suds of the root and rub it well into your scalp. Then, rinse the suds out in several waters and dry your hair in the sunshine.

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