NMPedia

Perennial shrub with distinctive rosettes of sharp stout spiky leaves, that blooms in tall spikes of white flowers. State flower of New Mexico, so designated in 1927; the selection was made after input from the state's schoolchildren (the leading vote: "cactus") and after being recommended by the New Mexico Federation of Women's Clubs. (No variety was specified of the several that grow in NM.) Now often used as a hardy landscaping plant, yucca also sees continuing use as a food source (fruits, seeds, flowers, and sometimes roots) and as a source for soap/shampoo (made from the roots of the soaptree yucca). The flower stalk of the yucca when dried is strong and light and is much valued for making walking sticks.
State Historian material on the selection of the Yucca as the State Flower

(1900-1983) Painter and printmaker, noted figured in abstract expressionism. Studied around Europe, then after living in Paris and Stockholm moved to the U.S. in 1947. In 1949 moved to the Albuquerque area, taught at UNM, and founded the Rio Grande Workshop, a school devoted to printmaking where he also taught. Yunkers split his time between New Mexico and New York over the next two decades. Biography: To invent a garden : the life and art of Adja Yunkers