6 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII, 



decorative art is the unusually large number of designs which 

 are said to represent plants of some sort. On Plate VII, Fig. 

 i (Butte County), we have what is called simply a "plant," 

 no more specific description being obtainable. The basket 

 itself is a very old one, certainly fifty years old, if not more. 

 What is described as a vine is shown in Fig. 2 (Plumas County) 

 and again on Plate VIII, Fig. i (Butte County), here, however, 

 with slight variations. The spiral character of this design is 

 supposed to represent the twining of the vine about a pole, 

 the points being the individual leaves protruding on each 

 side. As far as known, this design is confined exclusively to 

 the Northern Maidu. The common brake (Pteris aquilina) is 

 shown on Plate VIII, Fig. 2 (Butte County). The points are 

 here said to represent the pinnae of the fern; the significance 

 of the striped central bar is, in epite of further inquiries, still 

 unknown. This design also seems to "be restricted to the 

 Northern Maidu. 



Two other northern designs are those shown in Figs. 3, 4 

 (Butte County). The former was declared to be a tree, but 

 of what species was not known, although it was suggested 

 that it was most probably the sugar-pine. This would seem 

 reasonable, inasmuch as the pendants from the ends of the 

 horizontal arms in the design might very well stand for 

 the beautiful drooping cones of this most attractive tree. The 

 so-called "flower" design occurs in Fig. 4, and is of quite 

 frequent occurrence on baskets from the Konkau and other 

 Maidu of the northern Sacramento Valley. The design here 

 is somewhat irregular, but represents the overlapping petals 

 of a flower, the resemblance being most striking, as in the 

 case of the fish-teeth, when the basket is viewed from below. 



Local again in distribution, at least with this meaning, is 

 the yellow-pine (Plate IX, Fig. i, El Dorado County). The por 

 tion of the tree selected for representation is not known. The 

 very close similarity of this design to that shown on Plate 

 XIV, Fig. 3, there explained as animal tracks, is worthy of note. 

 With the large pack-basket shown on Plate IX, Fig. 2 (Plumas 

 County), we return again to a northern design. This is known 

 as the "pine-cone," and is one of the most effective designs 



