English

Chlorogalum pomeridianum

Noun

soap plant ‎(plural soap plants)

1. Used other than as an idiom: see soap,‎ plant.
   • 1994, Alecia Swasy, Soap Opera, page 189,

     For example, bleach production was moved to P&G's soap plant from the Kansas City Clorox plant to destroy the union there, according to a former officer.

2. Any plant of the genus Chlorogalum, endemic to western North America, especially Chlorogalum pomeridianum, the most widespread species.
   • 2008, Brian Milne, Top Trails: California Central Coast: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone, page 89,

     The trail, which winds through deerweed, soap plant, and mallow, is tough to miss in the summer and early fall, but may be overgrown with grass and wildflowers during the spring.

   • 2009, Emory Dean Keoke, Kay Marie Porterfield, Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World, page 82,

     The Karok, a California tribe, pounded the bulbs of the soap plant (Chlorogalum pomerindianum) to clean both clothing and buckskin blankets while the Mahuna used them whole as soap bars.

   • 2012, Marjorie G. Schmidt, Katherine L. Greenberg, Growing California Native Plants, 2nd Edition, page 205,

     Volunteers often occur around established plants, creating open colonies of soap plant in the wild and in gardens.

Synonyms

• (plant of genus Chlorogalum): amole, soaproot

Derived terms

• narrowleaf soap plant (Chlorogalum angustifolium)
• Red Hills soap plant (Chlorogalum grandiflorum)
• smallflower soap plant (Chlorogalum parviflorum)
• wavy-leafed soap plant (= amole; Chlorogalum pomeridianum)

See also

• purple amole (Chlorogalum purpureum)
• soapberry
• soaptree
• soapweed
• soapwort