In the APG III system, followed here, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, based on molecular systematics evidence.

[4] The second edition of the Jepson Manual places the genus in Agavaceae (equivalent to the APG III subfamily Agavoideae).

In 1999, phylogenetic studies based on molecular evidence, suggested that, along with Camassia, Chlorogalum seemed to be most closely related to Agave and Anthericum.

At least two of the species are used for detergent properties by Native Americans and early European settlers, specifically the C. pomeridianum by tribes including Miwok,[9] and the C. angustifolium by the Karuk people .

[12] In February 1847 Patrick Breen of the ill-fated Donner Party recorded that a Native American gave the starving settler some "roots resembling Onions in shape [that] taste some like a sweet potatoe [sic], all full of little tough fibres."

[citation needed] The bulbs also had various medicinal uses, both external (e.g., for making a poultice to be used as an antiseptic, or as a rub in cases of rheumatism) and internal (decoctions were used for a range of purposes, including as a diuretic, as a laxative and against stomachache).

[12] Many of California's Native American tribes traditionally used soaproot, or the root of various yucca species, as a fish poison.