GUATAMOTE (Bdccharis viminea, DC.). Flower heads about 

 I inch high of many whitish or tawny disk florets, no rays pres- 

 ent, disposed in small flattish clusters terminating numerous 

 lateral branchlets. Leaves alternate, narrow, willowlike, 2 

 or 3 inches long. An evergreen, willow-like shrub, the very 

 leafy stems 6 to 12 feet high, often forming dense thickets along 

 water courses and ditches from Southern California to the 

 Sacramento Valley, and from the ocean to the desert borders. 

 Flowering in late winter and early spring. 



This common California shrub holds its foliage through the 

 winter and is a favorite browse for live stock, which seem to 

 do well on it, whence the name Mule-fat given to it in some 

 districts. The curious term Guatamote (commonly pro- 

 nounced wah-ta-mo'td], by which it frequently goes in Southern 

 California, is a Mexican word, and is apt to become distorted 

 by the English-speaking to "water-motor." -In this corrupt 

 form it has even got into print. 



There are several species of Baccharis on the Pacific Coast, 

 mostly shrubs, but some herbaceous. From the wood of one 

 the San Diego Indians were accustomed to make then* fire- 

 drills. 



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