THISTLE FAMILY. 395 
tute one of the most important sources of pinole. The seed is 
slightly bitter, but has a delightfully spicy odor when roasted. It is 
gathered in the fall, and a small supply is frequently saved over win- 
ter and spring. The Yokia name for the plant is g@-/d’.. 
Madia densifolia Greene. 
Dos-sil’ (Pomo).—An erect, soft-hairy, but only slightly glandular 
species of tarweed, 2 to 4 feet high, the leaves of which are alternate 
and linear, on the basal portion of the stem set thickly together, but at 
the top small and scattering. The heads of flowers, which open in 
the evening, measure an inch or more in diameter and are yellow with 
ared center. The plant is very common in open valleys throughout 
the county. The seed, which is yielded in great abundance, is slightly 
flattened, curved, and club-shaped, being about + of an inch long, and 
is prettily marked with microscopic longitudinal striae. It is even 
more agreeably aromatic than the seed of the preceding species. 
Madia dissitiflora Torr. & Gr. 
Un'-ga-mil (Yuki).—One of the most typical tarweeds, 2 to 3 feet 
high, leafy and very viscid throughout, and bearing numerous small 
scattering heads of inconspicuous flowers. The tarry exudation of the 
easily detachable flower bracts does much damage to clothing and to 
sheep’s wool. The rich oily seeds are used to a considerable extent 
for pinole. The Pomo names for the plant are da@-sha@' and shd-mut’. 
From the seed of a closely related but more common species, J/. 
sativa, an oil has been manufactured in small quantity which was 
used at one time for cooking purposes. 
Matricaria discoidea DC. 
M@’-nd@ (Yokia).—A plant which looks much like dog fennel, but is 
vasily distinguished therefrom by the sweet odor of its herbage, and 
the absence of white rays in the flower heads. It is very common 
throughout the county. A decoction of the leaves and flowers is used 
by the Yokia Indians to check diarrhea. 
Petasites palmata Gray. 
Mul'-cém (Yuki).—A robust perennial 2 to 4 feet high with stout 
creeping rootstocks from which the iong-stemmed, orbicular, and 
palmately lobed leaves ascend directiy. These are deeply 5 to 11 
cleft, are incisely toothed on the margin, and often measure 7 to 10 
inches in diameter. The flower stalks appear much earlier than the 
leaves and bear racemose clusters of dull white, sweet-scented flowers. 
The plant is very common along rivers and large streams in damp 
woodlands throughout the mountainous part of the country, and may 
be known as the palmate-leaf sweet coltsfoot. So far as history is 
concerned, this plant might very appropriately be called the Yuki salt 
