STEVENSON] EDIBLE PLANTS 69 



Lycoperdon sp. Puffball. Lycoperdonacej;. Puffball family. 

 Mushrooms of the puffball variety are gathered in large quantities 

 in the fresh state for food, and are also dried for consumption in 

 winter. 



Opuntia wJiipplci Engelm. & Bigel. Cane Cactus. Cactace.^. 



Cactus family. 

 'Ko'shi, 'cactus.' 

 The fruit, me'awc, is removed with wooden tongs and the spines are 

 carefully rubbed off. It is eaten raw or stewed and is also dried for 

 winter use. The dried fruit is ground to a flour, which is mixed with 

 parched corn meal and made into a mush. 



Parosela lasianthera (Gray) Heller. Fabace.e. Pea family. 

 Kwi'mi chulolila, 'root chew' Qcwi'mi<kioi'minne, root; 

 cTiii'lol-ia. to chew). 

 The root is chewed and greatly enjoyed, especially by children. 



Pectin papposa Harv. & Gray. Carduace^. TMstle family. 

 Ham'pnsa. 

 The plant is gathered for winter iise and hung in the house to dry. 

 The flowers are cruslied in the hand and s])rinkled into meat stew as 

 a flavoring, after it is cooked. Tlie Zuni declare tliat when the 

 product of the hunt was their only meat, and they had only stone 

 vessels in which to cook, ham'pasa was mucli esteemed as a seasoning 

 for their game. 



Peritoma semilatum CPursh) DC. Rocky Mountain Bee Plant. 



CAPPARIDACE.E. Caper family. 

 A'pilalu, 'hand many seeds' {a<a'si, hand; pi'lalu, many 

 seeds). The leaf of the plant is referred to as a "hand." 

 This plant bears the same name as Polanisia trachysperma, not 

 because the Zuni do not recognize the difference between the species, 

 but because tlie two plants are similar in appearance. 



The tender leaves are cooked, usually boiled with corn on or off 

 the cob, and liighly seasoned with chile. Large quantities of the 

 leaves are gathered and hung indoors to dry for winter use. 



PJiaseolus vulgaris L. Bean. Fabace.e. Pea family. 

 No'we, 'beans.' 



Next to corn, beans are the most important article of food cultivated 

 by the Zuni. These are grown from the native species. As much 

 care is observed in securing beans of different colors as in the case of 

 corn. The beans are yellow, blue, red, white, all colors, and black, 

 sjanbolizing the six cardinal points — north, west, south, east, zenith, 

 and nadir, respectively. 



Beans are served in a variety of ways. They are boiled and fried 

 in a considerable quantity of grease. Another style of preparation 



