858 PLANTS USED BY INDIANS OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CAL. 
formerly used to some extent for greens. The Little Lake name for 
this little annual is Ao/-e Ad-/a’, which signifies ‘tS raven tree.” I was 
unable to learn the connection between the two names. 
Lupinus luteolus Kellogg. 
A plant which is referred rather doubtfully to the above species is 
one of the most serious weed pests of Round Valley, often completely 
covering wide areas of bottom land with such a uniform and profuse 
growth that one is readily Jed to beheve that it was planted as a staple 
crop. It isasmooth, very stout-stemmed, wide-branching annual, 3 to 
5 feet high, with yellow, sessile, verticillate flowers, and silky, two- 
seeded pods. No Indian name has been applied to the plant and it 
appears to be an introduced species. The white people know it as 
‘*seven-year weed” or ‘* butter weed,” the latter name referring to the 
color of the flowers, the former to the erroneous idea that it appears only 
every seventh year. Horses eat the tops sparingly in June when they 
are still succulent, and earlier in the year they are eaten for greens by 
a few Indians. Care is taken to throw away the first water in which 
the leaves have been boiled. I was informed by one individual that 
the seeds were used also for food after they had been pounded into 
flour and leached like acorn meal, but the statement appears to be 
somewhat questionable. 
Medicago denticulata Willd. 
The common bur clover is an introduced annual which has no Indian 
name. It grows in the grass everywhere and also on gravelly river 
bars. It isa valuable forage plant, the seeds as well as the leaves 
affording much nourishment. Sheep often eat the dried seed pods in 
summer after they have fallen to the ground. Powers records a state- 
ment that the Wailakis used to have a dance in spring when the plants 
became crisp and ready to eat. It seems probable, however, that in 
Round Valley these Indians now prefer various species of true clover. 
Psoralea macrostachya DC. 
Hoi'-ta (Concow). —A light-green, woody perennial, 6 to 12 feet 
high, which has soft, trifoliate leaves and numerous silky, oblong or 
oblong-oval clusters of rather inconspicuous purple flowers. The 
plant does not grow in Round Valley, but is rather common along 
streams and river beds near Ukiah. The inner bark is very strong 
and fine and was formerly used by the Concow and Yokia tribes for 
thread. The strong root fibers are still sparingly used in the manu- 
facture of hunting bags and for rope. This fiber was first noticed in the 
possession of a Concow Indian at Round Valley, who informed me that 
he obtained it near Ukiah. He called my attention to the pleasant aro- 
matic odor which the fiber had retained for over a year, and from his 
