314 PLANTS USED BY INDIANS OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CAL. 
swift rotary motion in a shallow, obtusely conical basket until the cen- 
trifugal force has carried the heavier particles to the top of the basket, 
whence they are dexterously removed and afterwards reground., 
Lolium temulentum |.. 
Mat (Yuki).—An annual grass universally known as darnel or 
poison rye grass, which is rather commonly introduced in Round Val- 
ley. It has a stout culm which bears at the summit a series of short, 
sessile, heavily seeded spikelets, which are closely appressed alternately 
on opposite sides of a slightly zigzag rachis. The grass is much like 
the commoner perennial rye grass (Lol/win perenne), but is easily dis- 
tinguishable by its stouter culm, more erect habit, and larger seeds. 
Whether from the presence of some specific poison or of some poison- 
ous or poison-producing fungus which grows on or within the erain, 
the seeds of this species have generally been considered unfit and even 
dangerous to use in any way for food. IT was, however, assured both 
by one Little Lake Indian and also by the chief of the Yukis that the 
seed was formerly used for pinole. Both were ignorant of the fact that 
the seeds were considered poisonous and no special process was used 
in preparing the pinole. — It’seems probable that the grain is not poison- 
ous in this locality, but it is possible that the poison is destroyed in 
the process of parching. 
CYPERACEAE. Sedge Family. 
Carex spp. 
The long, tough rootstocks of several and perhaps most of the local 
species of sedge or saw grass are used by the Indians of the county 
for making baskets, and were occasionally used long ago for making 
ropes. A great amount of patience is exercised in tracing the root- 
stocks out for a distance of from 2 to 5 feet through the sand and 
mud and in preparing the strands for use, but the labor is considered 
well worth while, for a well-moistened strand the size of an ordinary 
toothpick is nearly as flexible as string and can searcely be broken 
by hand. The baskets (Pl. XIV) manufactured from them are known 
technically as ** root baskets” and are the strongest, most durable, and 
most costly that are made. Sedge rootstocks are the most important 
of underground material used for such purposes, 
Carex vicaria Bailcy.' 
Ve (Yuki).—A coarse, leafy sedge, 1 to 2 feet high, which frequently 
covers whole acres of marshy land in Round Valley and is commonly 
known as **saw grass.” The leaves shoot up directly from the root 
' For the identification of the sedges Tam indebted to Prof. C.F. Wheeler, of Agri- 
cultural College, Michigan. 
