ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALASKA. to 
succulent stems as food, and boil the bark, drinking the de- 
coction as a medicine. In former times the shamans or 
sorcerers (in Tlingit Sheh-shooh) chewed the roots, swallow- 
ing the juice, in the belief that it augmented their ere 
powers. 
VACCINIUM PARVIFOLIUM, Tlingit, KLAIH-KOH-THUNK, 
(Red Huckleberry). V. OVALIFOLIUM var. CHaMissonis, V- 
(Blue Huckleberry). Tlingit, Kon-nuru-on, Tsim- 
sian, Myx. These three huckleberries are very plentiful in 
all parts of southeastern Alaska, flowering in April and early 
May and fruiting abundantly in July and August; the two 
latter are seriously attacked by a moth which deposits its 
eggs in the fruit to develop later as a small worm, but the 
first escapes this pest for some reason. The other two are 
also to a great extent free from it when growing in broad 
river valleys, probably owing to the prevalence of the winds 
in these exposed sections. So well is this known to the 
natives that they will sometimes go 50 miles to the mouth 
of the Junock, or some other large river, tu get their winter 
supply of this luscious fruit. The Tsimsians and Kaigani 
(Haidas) usually dry them either in the sun or over their 
camp fires for winter use, when they are eaten with ulikon 
oil; but the Tlingit tribes generally prefer the method noted 
above, of boiling them with pounded salmon roe. They are 
also eaten in enormous quantities in a fresh state, as they 
can be gathered from about July 20th to September 10th. 
Some seasons the fruit of the two latter is so sour as to be 
unpleasant to the palate of any but the natives. This I am 
at present unable to account for. 
VACCINIUM ARBUSCULA, Tsimsian, MEE-HATL, is not nearly 
so plentiful as either the three just mentioned. Its habitat 
appears to be the borders of sphagnous marshes, where it is 
not uncommon. The fruit is much sweeter than that of the - 
others, and is a favorite with the natives, who eat it fresh 
but do not appear to preserve it for winter use. 
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