WATERLEAF FAMILY. 381 
group of poisonous plants, and the natives probably eat the blossoms 
only now and then, and perhaps in very small quantity. No further 
use of the plant was noted. 
POLEMONIACEAE. Phlox Family. 
Collomia grandiflora Doug. 
Jou'-lish (Yuki).—The common orange-flowered gilia sometimes 
called Gilia grandiflora. No use was assigned to the plant, nor 
could the derivation of the word be determined. 
Linanthus ciliatus ( Benth.) Greene. 
Nun-fat'-é (Yuki).—The common ciliate gilia of California which 
has also been known as Gi//a e/l/ata. It is a low, dry, grayish-green 
annual, 4 to 10 inches high, with capitate clusters of inconspicuous 
purple flowers nearly hidden by sharp-pointed bristly bracts. It grows 
thickly on low, dry, grassy hills, and is exceedingly common through- 
out Mendocino County, blossoming in the summer. The flowering 
head was formerly used in the summer by the Yukis as a substitute 
for coffee. In the winter it is of no value. 
The plant is known to the Calpella Indians as /d-cd-che-pel’, and is 
used in the form of an infusion as a remedy for coughs and colds in 
children. Some old Indians keep a cold decoction on hand to drink 
instead of water in order to purify the blood. IT was assured by a white 
man that it did not taste bad, and that white people also used it for 
the same medicinal purpose. 
HYDROPHYLLACEAE. Waterleaf Family. 
Eriodictyon californicum (Hook. & Arn.) Greene. 
Til-at'-mil (Yuki).—The well-known verba santi (holy herb) of 
California, a dark-green, resinous shrub, 5 to 7 feet high, synono- 
mously called A. glutinosum. It grows profusely on dry, bushy 
hillsides throughout Mendocino County, and is known under the 
names mountain balm, wild balsam, gum leaves, tar weed, and, 
although incorrectly, ‘*sumac.” No plant is more highly valued as a 
medicine by all the tribes of Mendocino County. It is found in every 
household either in the dry state or in whisky extract. It was early 
adopted by the Spanish missionaries, and recently it has been admitted 
into the United States pharmacopeeia, being of special value in chronic 
subacute inflammation of the bronchial tubes, and as a means of disguis- 
ing the taste of quinine. It is conceded to be one of the best medi- 
cines recently admitted into regular officinal use. The Indians have 
various methods of using the plant, and apply it generally in their prac- 
tice of medicine. The leaf is the only part used. As a cure for colds 
and for asthma it is considered a specific by the native whites and 
Indians. It was extensively and very successfully used in Round 
