28 



SHRUBS 



CCF 

 MCF 

 Chap. 

 Oak 



Wash. 



Ore. 



Calif. 



Nev. 



Utah 



Ariz. 



FRUIT 

 BROWN 



cleaning lotion. Plant boiled is used for tea and and for ordinary 

 stomach trouble. Foliage contains tannin. Pioneers made a de- 

 coction of the leaves for poison oak. ^ p. qi /c-pc » ;i-\»tf- 



S-27. MANZANITA, / I \ ^^ PINKISH 



Arctostaphylos sp. The 

 two most common species 

 are the Green Leaf (A. 

 patula , illustrated), and 

 the Grey Leaf (A. mewuk- 

 ka) or Indian Manzanita. 

 Both of these will not fire- 

 kill, but send out new 

 shoots from the large, 

 round root crowns. A „._ 

 few other species do. ^Sv''" 

 All are evergreen shrubs ^ 

 with very crooked 



branches; the attractive, ^"^ 

 small, urn-shaped, pink or white flowers in small, nodding termi- 

 nal clusters. The berries are round and of many colors, but are 

 chiefly various shades of red and pink. 



Indians made manyusesof the berries, eating them raw, cooked 

 or ground into meal to be used as a porridge. They ranked next 

 to acorns in food value, A cider was made from the berries, 

 which were crushed, and then scalded with enough water to equal 

 the bulk of the berries. When settled, this made a fine drink. A 

 jelly is also made from the Grey Leaf Manzanita and some other 

 species. 



In a medicinal way, fruits and leaves were crushed for their 

 astringent properties for relief of bronchitis, dropsy and other 

 diseases, A tea made of the berries was used as awash for poison 

 oak. The leaves were crushed and dried and mixed with tobacco 

 to make up a smoke. 



The shrub is a decorative one for gardens and has the advan- 

 tage of growing on stony soil of poor fertility. Crooked branches 

 of many of these shrubs are used in dry decorations, some being 

 sunblasted to given them a light tan driftwood appearance; others 

 are left with the natural red color. The leaves in both cases are 

 removed. 



Manzanita is poor forage for cattle, but many animals eat it. 



