HERBS 



The bulb was also boiled, which 

 took out the soapy material, and was 

 then eaten as are potatoeSo Or the 

 bulb was baked in an earthen oven, 

 and eaten or dried and stored over 

 the winter; in that case, it must be 

 boiled before eating. It was also 

 used as a soap for washing hair or 

 clothes. Mashed and scattered in 

 streams, it stupified fish, which 

 could then be easily netted. 



The bulb was also used as an an- 

 tiseptic for sores and ulcers, and as 

 a diuretic and laxative. When the 

 bulb was roasted, the exuding juice 

 was used as glue for arrow feathers. 



H-4, FALSE HELLEBORE, Veratrum californicum; Bunch 

 Flower Fam. (see illustration above). 3-7' tall plant (sometimes 

 called Skunk Cabbage), with large, heavily-ribbed leaves which 

 gradually grow smaller as they reach the top of the plant. Flow- 

 ers are a dull greenish-white, borne on a showy, elongated ter- 

 minal cluster. Roots are few and extremely black. 



The plant inhabits moist meadows and along streams at middle 

 altitudes in mountains. Blossoms are said to be poisonous to many 

 insects. Powdered roots are used as an insecticide. The dry 

 root, powdered, was used as a snuff. 

 Most states Parkinson writes in 1640: "Roots were most used. Half a 

 w. Can. dram of oxymel (honey and vinegar), or juice of the quince, or a 

 quince put in the roots was baked in an oven or roasted under em- 

 bers, A scruple of juice given after eating was used for sufferers 

 of melancholy, dizziness, breaking out on the skin, and mixed 

 with lye and applied to the skin for removal of tics. " Being a dan- 

 gerous medicine, it must be taken with caution. He adds: "The 

 Spaniards made a poison from the juice of the roots, which, after 

 fermenting, was used on arrow heads. The antidote was eating 

 quinces. Animals killed with the poison were considered good eat- 

 ing, as the flesh was more tender and pleasant. " 



TheShoshones and other Indians used the raw root, crushed and 

 mashed, to apply to snake bite wounds on man and animals. A de- 

 coction of the root was taken as a tea for venereal disease. The 

 raw root, chewed, aided sore throats, inflamed tonsils and colds. 



Marsh 

 Mead. 

 MCF 

 CCF 



