SOME HEALING PLANTS 131 



ing it "Yerba de Chibato" Literally, this is "the 

 herb of the young kid," but liberally translated, it 

 becomes "the herb of the shepherd or goatsherd," 

 as these custodians of flocks made a wash of it with 

 which they cleansed and cured their animals' 

 wounds. It is excellent for a cut from barbed wire. 

 Clematis is from the Greek, meaning long, lithe 

 branches," and ligusticifolia is practically the same 

 from the Latin, the "leaves tying themselves tight- 

 ly." Another species, the lasiantha, has larger 

 flowers, and its leaves are covered with a soft silk. 

 After dwelling on the remedies Nature provides, 

 it may be as well to mention some of the plants one 

 should avoid tasting. The two daturas, the large- 

 flowered white one and the common jimson weed, 

 are both poisonous. Both have a maddening effect 

 on those who eat them. The former was used by 

 the Indians to stimulate their warriors before enter- 

 ing battle, and it was fed to children to produce a 

 trance in which they could predict the future. The 

 bulb of the zygadene has earned its title of "death 

 camaso"; the larkspur and the holly-leaved cherry 

 are both poisonous to sheep and cattle; the beautiful 

 azalea hides death in flower, leaves and root; the 

 white nightshade is equally vicious; the largest flow- 

 ered phacelia poisons many persons by the mere 

 gathering; the monkshood, or aconite, is disastrous 

 to animals; and the euphorbia poisons when brought 



