I Think I'll Stick with My Lye and Olive Oil!

I found this old article, which is actually a response to another old article published in Mother Earth News. In it, they talk about several botanical plants that are/were/can be used as soap substitutes - including: Soapbark, Soapberry, and Soapwort. Read the article.
Not that I'm planning to give up making my handmade soap with lye and olive oil...but I thought it was pretty cool. The chemical that they all share - saponin - has the same Latin root (Sapo) as our soapmaking process saponification.