110 USES OF PLANTS BY INDIANS [ETzi. anx. 33 



(if tlunil l.ii.ls; and tlie yoiiiig fruits while firm and j^rcen. It is 

 pri-piirt'd by boiling. Small boys used the fiber of the mature stalks 

 of this plant for popgun wad.s. chewing it for the purpose. 



When tlie Omaha first saw cabbage and noted its use boiled, as 

 they boiled irafUh^t. they likened it to that, and so named cabbage 

 iraKtha waHe, " white man's iraHtha.'' Likewise the Pawnee named 

 cabbage kari/tiku tsahihs-taka, "white man's karipiku'' {tsahiku, 

 person: taka, white). 

 Asri.KPiAs EXALTATA (L.) Muhl. Tall Milkweed. 



WaKthu-tika (Omaha-l'onca), white waTitha {ska, white; ivaJitha, 

 as stated before, is the Omaha-Ponca name of Asclep/as 

 xi/riaca). 



Tiie r(M)t was eaten raw as a remedy for stoiiuuh trouble. 



Co.NVOI.VULACKAE 



Ipomoka LKi'ioPH-i-LLA Tofr. Bush Morning-glory. (Pis. 25, 26.) 

 KahtH-tuwirikt (Pawnee), "whirlwind medicine'' {tuwirihi, 

 whirlwind). So called because of the peculiar twisted nature of 

 the fibrovascular system. 

 Among the Pawnee the large, perennial storage root of this xero- 

 jih^-tic plant is highly prized as a remedy for nervousness and bad 

 <lreams. For this purjOTse the smoke treatment was used. For alle- 

 viation of pain the pulverized root was dusted on the body with 

 a deer tail or with a feather brush. It was also used to revive one 

 who had fainted. 



Cr.scirrA paradoxa Raf. Dodder, Love Vine. 



Ilukastahkata (Pawnee), "yellow vine" {Iwkastah, vine; kata, 

 yellow). 



The dodder vine was used by Pawnee maidens to divine whether 

 their suitors were sincere. A girl having plucked a vine, with the 

 thought of the young man in mind tossed the vine over her shoulder 

 into the weeds of host species of this dodder. Then, turning round, 

 -she marked the plant on which the vine fell. The second day after 

 she would return to see whether the dodder had attached itself and 

 was growing on its host. If so, she went away content with full 

 assurance of her lover's sincerity and faithfulness. If the dodder 

 had not twined and attached itself, she took it as a warning not to 

 trust him. 



Dodder was said to be used as a dyestuff to give an orange color 

 to feathers. For this purpose the vines were boiled and the ma- 

 terials to be dyed were dipped. A Mexican Indian now living at 



