USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



animals. 2 The other plant referred to is Stachys 

 Calif ornica, Benth., called Mastransia by the Mexi- 

 cans, with whom it is a standard remedy. It is a 

 hairy herb of the Mint tribe, a foot or two high, 

 Avith rather small, purple, 2-lipped flowers and some- 

 what triangular leaves rather wrinkled in texture, 

 the whole plant quite distinctively odorous. It is 

 found up and 6.o\yi\ the Pacific Coast in various 

 situations, and varies more or less accordingly in 

 its characters. Mr. J. Smeaton Chase, who has used 

 it with signal success for saddle galls, tells me that 

 the green plant, freshly gathered, is customarily em- 

 ployed. An infusion of stem and leaves is made by 

 soaking them for a few minutes in boiling water. 

 This is applied as a wash to wounds or sores. The 

 soaked leaves may also be bound upon the parts as 

 a poultice. Stachys is a genus of wide distribution 

 in both hemispheres, and in England certain species 

 long ago gained repute as remedial agents, under 

 the suggestive common name Woundwort. 



Patrons of quinine may find in our wild flora sub- 

 stitutes by no means negligible, when their sup- 

 ply of cinchona gives out. The most important are 



2 Mr. J. S. Chase, in his recent book "California Desert Trails," 

 states that a half inch or so of the stem of the Creosote-bush, peeled 

 and held in the mouth like a pebble, is an Indian device for staving 

 off thirst on desert journeys when water is scarce. 



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