USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



Cascara sagrada for the medical trade is an im- 

 portant minor industrj^ in the Pacific Northwest, the 

 bark of tlie Purshiana or arboreal form being the 

 kind preferred. There is a considerable European 

 demand for it, as well as from American chemists. 



Another of the famous Pacific Coast remedies is 

 Yerba Santa, whose Spanish name (meaning "holy 

 herb") also betravs its connection with the Cali- 

 fornia Mission days, when the Padres not only 

 instructed Indians but now and then learned some- 

 thing from them. An American common name for 

 the plant — Consumptive's Weed^ — indicates one of 

 its popular uses. It has, in fact, been esteemed for 

 generations in California as an expectorant, a blood 

 purifier, and a tonic — a standby in all bronchial and 

 respiratory troubles. Botanically it is Eriodictyon 

 ghitinosmn, Benth., and is a shrubby plant, three to 

 seven feet high, wdth dark green, resinous leaves 

 (shaped somewhat like those of the peach) glutinous 

 and shining on the upper side and whitish under- 

 neath, the flowers tubular, clustered and usually 

 purple but sometimes white. It is abundant on dry 

 hillsides and among the chaparral throughout much 

 of California and southward into Mexico. A bitter 



1 Others are Mountain Balm, Gum Leaves, Bear's-weed and Wild 

 Peach. 



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