CHIA (Sdlvia Columbaria, Benth). Flowers small, blue, 

 little exceeding the spiny-toothed calyx, in interrupted whorls 

 subtended by purplish, prickly, bracts. Leaves mostly basal, 

 dull green, deeply cut into toothed, blunt lobes, coarsely 

 wrinkled. A purplish-stemmed annual, from 4 inches to 2 

 feet tall, common on warm, dry hills throughout California 

 and eastward to Nevada and Arizona. Blooming from March 

 till May. 



Chia (chee'd) is an odd-looking little plant, its flower heads 

 like bristling buttons impaled on a skewer. The tiny seeds, 

 rich in mucilage and oil, are famous as a staple food of the 

 Pacific Coast and Mexican Indians from very ancient times, 

 the plant having been a cultivated crop among the latter. 

 The Indian method of harvesting the seeds is to beat the ma- 

 ture heads with a paddle over a flat basket. After winnowing, 

 the seeds are parched over a fire and ground into meal, which 

 may then be boiled up in water and eaten as a straight mush; 

 or it may be mixed with wheat flour, and baked into cakes. 

 A pleasant beverage may also be > made from the crushed 

 parched seeds steeped in water, with the addition of lemon and 

 sugar. 



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