856 PLANTS USED BY INDIANS OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CAL. 
These ripen very late in the autumn and are much used as a substitute 
for the true holly for Christmas decoration. They are also quite 
largely used for food by the Indians. They are occasionally eaten 
direct from the tree, but they are generally cooked first. This is 
sometimes done by boiling, but most frequently by roasting a bunch 
of them over red-hot coals or by tossing them about with hot coals in 
a basket. The cooking is said to change the disagreeable acid taste to 
asweet one, but | had no opportunity, on account of the season, to 
test the truth of the statement. A decoction of the leaves and bark is 
used to allay stomach ache and various pains and aches. The Pomo 
name for the tree is bi/’'-2d'-2a; the Yokia, Av-y7’. 
AMYGDALACEAE. Peach Family. 
Cerasus demissa Nutt. 
Po-md mam (Yuki). —The deciduous wild or choke cherry, known 
by some authors as Jeans demissa, which has pendant racemes of 
large, shining red or black berries, a third to a half inch in diameter, 
It grows commonly in openings in oak and Oregon spruce forests, 
and especially in open valleys, throughout the region. The fruit is 
very astringent while still red, but when black and fully ripe it is 
quite edible, although rather tart. The tree fruits very abundantly 
in Round Valley and large quantities of the cherries are consumed 
either in the fresh or dried state. A few Indians have recently been 
taught to can the fruit and to make jelly out of it. This is not done 
ona large scale, however, because so much sugar is required in the 
process. 
The inner bark is gathered in large quantities by some individuals 
for its medicinal value as a tonic, to check diarrhea, and to relieve 
nervous excitability. The Yokia name for this cherry is 10-sd’ ha-(d'; 
the Wailaki, 2/n-h0s'-7e, 
Prunus subcordata Benth. 
Gos'-i (Concow). The wild plum, a scragely deciduous shrub, 3 to 
10 feet high, which vields in favorable localities an abundance of deli- 
clous red or purple fruit nearly an inch in length. The bush is not 
very common in this region, nor does the fruit develop well, but it is 
sometimes gathered for food, and used to be dried in some quantity 
when long special trips were made for it. 
CASSIACEAE. Cassia Family. 
Cercis occidentalis Torr. 
Cha'-a@ (Yuki).—The common redbud of the region, a magnificent 
wide-branching shrub, 8 to 20 feet high, which is conspicuous in early 
spring for its wealth of small reddish blossoms and in summer and fall 
