noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A soaptree (Yucca elata), of the arid southwestern and south-central US and northern Mexico.
2. 2
   A colony, or an individual cell within a colony, of immobile, asexually reproducing green algae, formed in response to adverse conditions such as desiccation.

Synonyms

All synonyms

soaptree yuccasoapweedsoapweed yucca

Etymology

From resemblance to green algae of the genus Palmella.

Related phrases

palmella stagepalmella stategreen alga

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.