Various treatments can influence germination. One of the most interesting and well-studied aspects of yucca ecology centers around the symbiotic relationship between yuccas and their yucca moth pollinators. Vegetative regeneration allow soapweed yucca to survive and expand on sites with significant competition such as prairie grasslands. Rhizomes are covered with a thick, rough, protective bark, branch and spread horizontally with vertical branches growing to the soil surface where new leafheads are formed. Ramets are produced in late summer from lateral buds at the base of the inflorescence or from rhizomes near senescent rosettes.
Soapweed yucca can resprout relatively quickly even after successive defoliations.
Seedlings often thrive on disturbed sites in which soil is exposed such as road cuts, overgrazed sites, or slide zones. However, small seedlings often compete poorly with grasses or older conspecifics. Existing plants or clones of this versatile plant can still increase in area through vegetative regeneration in grasslands or prairies. Interestingly, this yucca is described as both an increaser in response to grazing, and a climax species. Flowering in this yucca typically occurs after a rosette has grown vegetatively for a number of years.