STEVENSON] EDIBLE PLANTS 73 



until thoroughly dissolved. This liquid, or sj/rup, is regarded as 

 delicious, and the dry fruit is eaten as a conserve. 



Before the introduction of coffee and sugar, the dissolved Conserve 

 was used to sweeten the native beverages and also boiled green peaches. 



Yucca glauca Nutt. Soapweed. Liliace^. Lily family. 

 Ho'tsanna, 'long leaf small' Qio <lw'Tcmpa, long leaf wide; 

 tsan'na, small), resembling the leaf of ho'kiapa {Yucca 

 haccata), but more slender and not so long. 

 The seed pods, which are slightly sweet, are boiled. The 3-oung 

 pods are considered far superior as food to the older ones. While the 

 seeds of the former are eaten with the pods, those of the latter are not 

 regarded as edible. These pods are not combined with other foods, 

 and they are never eaten warm or with meals. "They would not 

 agree with the stomach if taken with other food." 



Zea mays L. Corn. Poace-e. Grass family. 

 Chu'we, 'corn.' 



Though not mdigenous to the United States, com was the staple 

 food of the inhabitants of the Southwest long before the comhig of 

 the Spaniards in the middle of the sLxteenth century, having been 

 brought to this section either by peoples migrating from the south or 

 by aborigmal traders. It is found, charred, ui almost every cliff- 

 house of thi! Southwest. Corn is made uito a great variety of dishes, 

 and is also employed in liquid form. See p. 76. 



He'ioe, a paper-like bread, is made of corn crushed on the coarsf-st 

 millmg stones and then toasted m a bowl supported on stones hi the 

 right-angle fireplace. The corn Ls stirred continually ^vith a bunch of 

 osiers. The toasted meal is passed through m a miU of the next 

 degree of fineness and afterward through a third mill, the final product 

 being a very fine flour. A quantity of this meal mixed with cold 

 water is sthred mto a pot of boilmg \vater, and the mixtiu'e is stirred 

 constantly during the cooldng. After the pot has been removed 

 from the fire and the mush has cooled sufficiently it is placed on the 

 floor by the side of the bread maker. A bowl of thm batter made of 

 imcooked meal and cold water is put by the side of a large bowl. If 

 the he' we is to be of a bluish-green color, the water from slaked lime 

 is poured into the batter. The woman at the baking stone deposits 

 in the empty bowl a double handful of the mush, adding a handful 

 of batter. \Yhen the two are thoroughly mixed she dips a quantity 

 with her hand and passes it rapidly over the heated slab,' which is 

 supported on stones at one end of a long th'e place provided with a 

 Chmeselike awniing hood. The hand is passed from inght to left, 

 begmning at the far side of the slab, and by the tune the slab is cov- 

 ered the gauzy sheet is baked; the bread is lifted from the slab and 



' See 2Sd Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 361. 



