NETTLE FIBER 95 



URTICACEAE. 



Urtica breweri Wats. 



Sleds. — The native species of nettle, a tall perennial with opposite 

 leaves and four-angled stems, provided with stinging hairs. The fiber 

 of the stems is used in the manufacture of cords and nets. See also 

 under Salix. 



POLYGONACEAE. 



Eriogonum stellatum Benth. 



Ba-bak"-haklha'-nmn. — A low shrub, the small, rounded, cottony- 

 leaves of which, about 2 mm. (four-fifths of an inch) in diameter, are 

 placed on burns to soothe the pain by protecting the surface from the air. 



Eriogonum elatura Dougl. 



K<V-a-lum-lies.— The plant is not used, nor was the significance of the 

 name discovered. 



Polygonum douglasii (ireene. 



luip'-i-ihiks. — A slender, usually much-branched plant about 50 cm. 

 (approximately lh feet) high, with black, shining seeds shaped like those 

 of buckwheat, but smaller, and narrow sheathing leaves. At maturity 

 the seeds are inclosed in the dry, papery calyx or "hull," and in this 

 condition they are gathered. The hulls are rubbed oft' by hand, and 

 the seeds parched and often ground. This meal is either eaten dry or 

 mixed with water and boiled, a process which turns the material red. 

 No growing specimens were seen by the writer, but the seeds secured 

 were from a lot gathered in dry, sandy soil on the east side of Klamath 

 Marsh, where the plant is abundant. 



Rumex geyeri (Meisn.) Trelease. 



Ken-a'-wat. — This is a plant of which the leaves and stems are eaten 

 fresh, and the seeds, which are "fiat like those of a parsnip," are 

 eaten when ripe. From the description given by the Indians the 

 plant may belong to this species. 



Rumex salicifolius Weinm. 



Go'-Maks. — One of the native species of dock, common in low, open, 

 somewhat alkaline soils. The seeds are used for food. My informant 

 stated that there were three kinds of this plant, from his description 

 apparently all belonging to the genus Kumex, each with a different 

 Indian name, and also used for food. 



CHENOPODIACEAE. 



Chenopodium fremonti Wats. 



Kots-on'-iks. — The native goosefoot or lamb's quarters of the region, 

 a common annual weed in cultivated fields. The minute, black, lens- 



