3818 PLANTS USED BY INDIANS OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CAL. 
JUNCACEAE. Rush Family. 
Juncus effusus L. 
Lol'-um (Yuki). “The common rush of the region a leafless plant 
with numerous wiry flower stalks which shoot up directly from the 
ground and form clumps 2 to + feet high. The small inconspicuous 
flowers are borne in loose paniculate clusters several inches from the 
awl-like tip. The plant is common in marshy land throughout the dis- 
trict and is most commonly known as ** wire grass” or ** spring grass.” 
Cows and horses will eat it in early spring while it is still crisp and 
tender. When older the wiry stalks are used in various ways for 
tying and for making temporary baskets. It is with these stems that 
the Indian children are first initiated into the art of basket making. 
The basket ware rackets used in gathering pinole seeds are occasionally 
made from them also. In the Hudson collection of baskets, now at 
the United States National Museum, there is a cheap and very interest- 
ing device for catching fish which is made altogether of this rush. It 
is a slightly conical, net-like, somewhat rigid structure about 18 inches 
long by 4 inches in diameter. The open end is provided with a longi- 
tudinal slit on one side which allows the opening to be readily dilated 
at the will of the operator. It is very doubtful if this arrangement is 
ever used nowadays, but the Pomo Indians who formerly used them 
were very crafty fishermen. By means of this trap they were, with- 
out the aid of either spear or hook and line, able to catch salmon and 
trout when they were found isolated in deep pools. One or more of 
the men would get into the pool: the open end of the basket was 
grasped in the left hand so that the opening lay between the hand 
and the body, the closed end pointing backward, and the chase was 
begun. The fish were frightened hither and thither, until one was 
caught between the vertical bank and the left side of the body when 
it was frightened into the trap. By holding the opening tightly against 
the body the capture was completely insured. 
It seems probable that this method of catching fish was indulged in 
more as a sport than as a serious business, for all of the Indians have 
long been familiar with the use of the spear, and the most unwaltonian 
method of scooping them in by the bushel after having stirred up a 
lot of some poisonous plant in the water. 
Wire grass is also used in the manufacture of wampum. The small 
perforated clam shell dises are closely strung on one of the wiry stems, 
and the cylinder thus formed is rolled between flat stones until all 
the dises are perfectly circular, when they are all finally polished by 
rubbing them with leaves and stems of the scouring rush (Equisetum). 
It is claimed that the stems are made stronger by first placing them in 
hot water and then drying. Chd-bd' is the name for the plant which 
is used by the Potter Valley, Little Lake, and Yokia Indians; s?'-¢0 is 
the Wailaki name. 
