FERN FAMILY. 3038 
POLYPODIACEAE. Fern Family. 
Adiantum emarginatum Hook. 
Shinu-chwak' ka-la’ (Yokia).—The common maidenhair fern, which 
grows from 8 to 12 inches high on brushy hillsides throughout the dis- 
trict. Shmuw means ear, chiedh is equivalent to stick, and hé-la’ is 
the word for tree. The plant is literally the ‘‘ear-stick tree.” The 
smooth, jet-black leaf stems were particularly valued for keeping ear- 
ring holes open and for increasing their size. 
Adiantum pedatum L. 
The hard, beautifully-polished stems of the five-fingered maidenhair 
attain a length of 1 or 2 feet in the redwood belt near the coast, and 
are there used for the black withes of some of their baskets, especially 
in those used for hats. 
Gymnogramma triangularis Kaulfuss. 
No Indian name was obtained for the gold-back fern which is com- 
mon on open, brushy hillsides and in forests throughout the county. 
The abundant yellow powder on the underside of the leaf is largely 
composed of a curious crystalline compound which was isolated and 
named ceroptene! by Dr. Walter C. Blasdale, of the University of Cali- 
fornia. The leaf issaid to have been formerly esteemed by the Span- 
lards at Ukiah a valuable medicine, the specitic use of which I was, 
however, unable to determine. As in the case of the five-fingered fern, 
this plant grows much more thriftily nearer the coast. The stems are 
also used there to a slight extent in the making of baskets. Children 
are fond of making temporary gold-colored prints of the fern on their 
wearing apparel by rubbing the back of the frond against the cloth. 
Polypodium californicum Kaulfuss. 
JSou'-lish fal (Yuki).—-The papery-leaved polypody fern, which con- 
sists generally of a single, simply pinnate leaf and grows from a 
few inches to a foot in height on mossy logs and banks in deep 
canyons. 
The Wailakis rub the juice from the bruised root on sores for its 
healing effect and on the body for the cure of rheumatism. Other 
tribes use an extract of the root as a wash for sore eyes. A very 
amusing account was related to me by the chief of the Wailakis to 
show how the coyotes used one of these fronds as a counter—running 
to and fro and upward on the zigzag pinnae—in teaching the first 
elements of arithmetic to his progeny. This animal is most highly 
admired by all of the Indians for his alertness and cunning, and is 
imitated and almost deitied for these special characters. 
1Erythea, vol. 1, pp. 252 to 258. 1893. 
