Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 87 



The plant is related to the cultivated Cyclamen of our gardens, 

 which it somewhat resembles in appearance. 



The plants are from a few inches to a foot and a half tall ; the 

 leaves are in a tuft at the base, and the four or five smooth stems 

 are crowned with umbels of from five to fifteen flowers. The petals 

 are usually white, flushed with pink, and a band of yellow sets off 

 the tapering point of violet or purple colored stamens and pistils. 



One can easily catch the meaning of the name "Mad Violets," 

 for the flower is somewhat like a violet that has laid its petals back 

 in anger. The name of "Rooster Heads" came with a sporting 

 game of little boys, who hooked the flower heads together and then 

 pulled to see which came off, with as much zest as though they were 

 having a rooster fight. A rather unlovely name by which the plant 

 was known to old settlers was that of "Sow's Bread." This may 

 be due to the fact that swine were fond of digging and eating the 

 tender roots. (The ancients called the common Cyclamen "Sow's 

 Head.") 



Shooting Star seems a pretty and poetic name for these inter- 

 esting little blossoms, although Wild Cyclamen is much in favor as 

 a popular title. They are among the earliest wild flowers to be 

 found in the Coast Range and valleys. The Dodocatheon hender- 

 soni is the one most common in the Bay Region. It blooms from 

 the middle of February until late in May. Later in the summer 

 season the wet meadows of the high Sierras are colored with masses 

 of another and larger species, Dodocatheon jeffreyi, which is much 

 admired by visitors to the Yosemite. 



The Dodocatheons are widely distributed in many varieties 

 over the North American continent and Asia. There are many 

 species named in California, but botanists have found it hard to 

 systematize them because there seem to be no clean-cut differences 

 between varying forms. 



This flower is among the few wild blooms recorded as having 

 appealed more particularly to the aesthetic taste of the Indian 

 women, whose artistic natures were revealed in their wonderful 

 basketry and other rare handicraft. The utilitarian side of plant 

 life, such as those yielding food, fiber, medicines, soap and other 

 economic values, naturally were prized by the wild people, as they 

 furnished them with most of the comforts of their nomad lives. 

 The roots and leaves of the Dodocatheon were roasted in ashes by 

 the Indian tribes of Mendocino County and considered a great 

 delicacy. Medicinal properties, also, I believe, were attributed to 

 the plant. But the blossoms are said to have been exceedingly 

 popular with the squaws and were frequently used by them for self- 

 adornment, especially at their dances. In the language of flowers, 

 Cyclamen means diffidence. 



