Indians as a fish poison.* 5 Such sickness as may have been caused 

 among domestic livestock by certain of the range scurfpeas prob- 

 ably occurred where the animals were forced to eat the plants be- 

 cause of limited forage supply or where these plants contaminated 

 hay. There is a need of further scientific research to ascertain the 

 possible role these species may play in livestock sickness and losses. 



The roots of some of the species are tuberous and starchy. Three 

 species Indian breadroot, Beaverdam breadroot (P. casto'rea), and 

 skunktop breadroot (P. mephi' tica] all furnished food for the 

 Indians and early settlers of the Western States. 7 The roots of two 

 plains species, tall breadroot (P. cuspida'ta) and little breadroot (P. 

 hypoffae'a) , were also used by them. 8 The leaves of California-tea 

 (P. physo'des}, common in open spots of wooded slopes in the higher 

 hills and mountains from California north to British Columbia, are 

 aromatic and, when dried, make a pleasant tea which is a satisfactory 

 substitute for Chinese tea and was a popular beverage among the 

 early Californians. Jepson 9 states that the roots of leatherroot (P. 

 macrostaf chyw) furnished a tough fiber prized by the Pomos and 

 other native Indian tribes. This species is the most common and 

 widely distributed Psoralea in California, occurring in rich soils, 

 along streams, and in salt marshes from sea level up to elevations 

 of 3,000 feet. Bauchee seeds, the seeds of Malay-tea (P. corylifo'lia)* 

 an Asiatic species, have long been used in India in the treatment of 

 such skin diseases as leucoderma, or white leprosy. 10 The roots or 

 leaves of certain other species have been used medicinally, especially 

 in America, for their emetic, astringent, or tonic properties. A case 

 is on record of the poisoning of a child apparently from eating the 

 seeds of silverleaf scurf pea (P. argophyl'ld) . s 



The North American scurfpeas are rather low, herbaceous peren- 

 nials, but some of the shrubby forms in other regions attain a height 

 of about 15 feet. A characteristic feature of the genus is the presence 

 of resinous, often black, glandular dots or tubercles on the calyx, 

 leaves, stems, pods, or other parts of the plant ; the herbage is often 

 heavy-scented. The alternate leaves are usually cloverlike or lupine- 

 like (digitately, or palrnately divided), with one to seven (usually 

 three to five) smooth-edged (in the American species) leaflets. The 

 frequently sweet-scented flowers, mostly white, blue, purple, or pink 

 are arranged in elongated, close, or spreading clusters. The short, 

 thickened, one-seeded, frequently beaked pods of this genus, unlike 

 those of most leguminous plants, do not, as a rule, split open 

 (dehisce) although the pods of some of the breadroot species (section 

 Pediomelujn) may burst irregularly or break off at the top when 

 mature. 



Marsh, C. D. STOCK-POISONING PLANTS OF THE RANGE. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 1245, 

 36 pp., illus. 1924. Supersedes Bull. 575. 



7 Wood, H. C., Remington, J. P., and Sadtler, S. P., assisted by Lyons, A. B., and Wood, 



H. C., Jr. THE DISPENSATORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BY DR. GEO. B. WOOD AND 



DR. FRANKLIN BACHE. Ed. 19, thoroughly rev. and largely rewritten . . . 1,947 pp. 

 Philadelphia and London. 1907. 



8 Pammel, L. H. A MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS CHIEFLY OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA, 



WITH BRIEF NOTES ON ECONOMIC AND MEDICINAL PLANTS ... 2 ptS., illUS. Cedar Rapids, 



Iowa. 1910-11. 



8 Jepson, W. L. A MANUAL OF THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF CALIFORNIA. 1,238 pp., illus. 

 Berkeley, Calif. [1925.] 



10 Ghosh, J. C. PSORALIA CORYLIFOLIA. Pharm. Jour, and Pharm. [London] 121 : 54-55. 

 1928. 



