90 PLANTS USED BY THE KLAMATH INDIANS. 



TYPHACEAE. 



Typha latifolia L. 



Po'-pas. — The common cat-tailor cat- tail flag, abundant about Klamath 

 Lake, Klamath Marsh, and marshy places generally. The short tuber- 

 ous rootstocks late in the season, when full of stored food, are eaten 

 under the name of ktoks; the leaves are used in the manufacture of 

 mats very much after the manner of Carex; and the down of the fruit- 

 ing spikes has been employed in recent times as a stuffing material for 

 pillows. 



SPARGANIACEAE. 

 Sparganium eurycarpum Kngelm. 



Pod'-ehak. — The bur-reed, a marsh perennial, commonly a meter in 

 height, with flat leaves somewhat resembling those of a cat- tail but of 

 a bright green color, the fruit borne in spherical bur-like heads. It is 

 common about Klamath Lake, and doubtless in other similar situations. 

 The young rootstocks late in summer develop at. their ends tubers 

 which have a sweetish taste and are used for food. The bulbous 

 expansion at the base of the stem, similar in its qualities, is likewise 

 eaten, and is called klop'-a, 



SCHEUCHZE RIACEAE. 



Triglochin maritima L. 



Oil-len'-a. — A rush-like perennial, of usually alkaline marshes, with 

 numerous slender thickened basal leaves and a long naked flowering 

 stem bearing a spike of greenish flowers, each succeeded by six seed 

 like carpels. These are parched and eaten, and sometimes, according 

 to one Indian woman, roasted and used as a substitute for coffee. 



ALISMACEAE. 

 Sagittaria arifolia Nutt. 



Chi) a'. — Arrowhead or wappatoo, a marsh plant, with large tender 

 leaves shaped like arrowheads, and white flowers, common in perma- 

 nently muddy soil everywhere. In' autumn the slender rootstocks 

 develop at their ends white tubers filled with starch and very nutri- 

 tious. The Chinook name for the plant, wappatoo, which is widely 

 used in the Xorthwest tor this and another species, Sagittaria latifolia 

 Willd., is a good popular designation. 



From the fact that the tubers bear a general resemblance to those of 

 the cultivated potato the name cho-ii' was at once applied to that plant 

 when it first became known to the Ivlamaths. The name Chewaucan, 

 applied to a great marsh in the Oregon plains east of the Klamath Res- 

 ervation, was derived from this word, with the addition of the suffix 



