PHARMACAL PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 149 



786. Silybum marianum Gaert. Mariana. Composite. 

 Seeds used as an antispasmodic. Requires further study. 



787. Simmondsia californica Nutt. Garryacece. 



A large shrub with a curious fruit. The nuts (seeds) taste something 

 like filberts but leave a bitter after taste. The Indians use the seed as 

 >d. The Coahilla Indians prepare a drink from the ground seeds, 

 le oil of the seeds is much used as a hair tonic. 



788. Sinapis alba L. and S. nigra Kock. Mustard. Cruciferw. 

 English mustard has been grown on an enormous scale in the Lompoc 



r alley in California. ' ' Mustards ' ' of all kinds are very profuse through- 

 it the State, growing very rank and constitute a very troublesome pest 

 the farmer. 



789. Sisyrinchium bellum Wats. Star grass. Azulea. Villela. 

 [ridaceoB. 



A common California plant. A tea made from it is used in the treat- 

 ment of fevers. A popular notion prevails that it is possible to subsist 

 for many days on this tea alone. 



790. Sissymbrium pinnatum Greene. Tansy mustard. Palmita. 

 Cruciferce. 



The seeds, cooked and seasoned with salt, with milk and sugar added, 

 are eaten. Used largely by the old squaws. 



791. Slum cicutaefolium Gmel. Water parsnip. Umbelliferce. 



A poisonous plant. Children and others occasionally eat the roots, 

 mistaking them for parsnips. (Proc. A. Ph. A. 25: 168, 1877.) 



792. Smilacina amplexicaulis Nutt. False Solomon 's seal. Liliacece. 

 Common in woodlands along the coast. (U. S. D.) 



793. Smilax species. Sarsaparilla. Smilacece. 



The medicinal sarsaparilla is not cultivated commercially within the 

 State. No doubt certain portions of southern California would be well 

 suited to this plant. 



794. Solanum dulcamara L. Bittersweet. Solanacece. 



A well-known foreign medicinal plant which could be cultivated very 

 readily. 



795. Solanum nigrum L. Black nightshade. Solanacece. 

 Specially common in the eastern United States, but rapidly spreading 



westward, and very abundant in certain localities in the State. Com- 

 monly known as deadly nightshade, and also as belladonna, and by some 

 has been mistaken for the true belladonna. The unripe fruits are 

 poisonous, but the ripe fruits are said to be eaten. The active con- 

 stituent is solanine, whose physiological action requires further study. 



