304 PLANTS USED BY INDIANS OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CAL. 
Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn. 
Bis (Calpella). —The common bracken fern, which is a coarse native 
weed in this district. The hard root wood is easily split into flat bands, 
which are sometimes used by the coast Indians for the black strands 
of their cheaper baskets. They are much less frequently used for this 
purpose by the Indians of Round Valley and Ukiah, because, although 
susceptible of a fine polish, they are far weaker and more brittle than 
the saw-grass roots which compose the weft of their choicest baskets. 
The black color, which is claimed by some individuals to be natural, 
was not apparent in the sample of the fresh root collected by myself at 
Ukiah in July, 1898, but it was made black by chewing it for a short 
time, a process which, according to one authority, is really adopted 
by the Indians for the sole purpose of removing certain objectionable 
greenish fibers which lie parallel to the wood. One of my Pomo 
informants stated that the black color was developed by burying the 
root in mud for about a week. The root is said on good authority to 
be used by some of the Sierra Indians as a staple article of food, but 
I have no evidence that such is the case in Mendocino County, except 
that it might be inferred that the chewing process above referred to is 
intended as much for procuring nutriment as for the production of 
the black color. In this connection it might be stated that some of the 
native blacks of Australia are credited with having formerly made 
use of these roots for food, and that the variety known as esculentum 
is a source of starch in Japan.’ 
The large, somewhat coriaceous-leaved fronds serve as an excellent 
means of beating down grass fires, and also as a lining for berry bas- 
kets when this fruit is to be carried a long distance on horseback. 
According to Carl Purdy, the hay along the coast sometimes contains 
large quantities of this fern, and it is eaten by stock with apparent 
impunity, although it has been suspected in other places, especially in 
Europe, of being poisonous. The plant has heen employed as a diu- 
retic drug for horses, but its action is violent and dangerous. 
The Little Lake name for the fern is 62-47’; the Concow si-lé-ld’; 
the Numlaki, dos, and the Yokia, md@-dr-da-qit'. 
EQUISETACEAE. Scouring Rush Family. 
Equisetum variegatum Schleich. 
Shéin-tum’ (Yuki).--The common scouring rush of the region. 
The highly silicious stems are used to some extent even at the present 
time as a substitute for sandpaper in finishing off arrows and other 
woodwork. Although grass was abundant, it was observed that horses 
‘Maiden, J. H., Native Food Plants. Miscellaneous Publication 282, Department 
of Agriculture, New South Wales, pp. 63, 64. 1899. 
