GILMoRE] TAXONOMIC LIST OF PLANTS 91 
THERMOPSIS RHOMBIFOLIA (Nutt.) Richards. False Lupine. 
The flowers of this plant were dried and used in fumigation, that 
is, the smoke treatment, for rheumatism, especially inflammatory 
rheumatism. The method of treatment was to mix the dried flowers 
with hair and burn the mixture under the affected part, confining the 
smoke and heat with a close covering. It is said that this treatment, 
with this remedy, reduces the swelling at once and relieves the pain. 
Meninorus avpa Desvy. and M. orricrnatis (L.) Lam. Sweet Clover. 
Wacha"ga iyechecha (Dakota); wacha"ga, sweet grass; iye- 
checha, similar. 
Melilotus was introduced by the Europeans. Seeds probably 
came from the east among the effects of the early missionaries, 
for it first appeared on the grounds of the Presbyterian mission on 
the Omaha Reservation, which was built in 1856-57. The Omaha 
coming to the mission observed this plant, which had newly found its 
way into their country with the white men. They noticed that its 
odor resembled that of Savastana odorata, which they venerated and 
used in religious ceremonies. They were pleased with its odor, and 
since it was perhaps associated in their minds with the white man’s 
religion, owing to its presence at the mission, they gathered bunches 
of it because of its pleasant odor, which they carried to their homes. 
Thus the plant was scattered all over the reservation, so that there 
is a more thorough distribution of it in that county than in any 
other part of the State that I have seen. The Dakota also are fond 
of the plant’s odor and liken it to Savastana, hence their name for it. 
They gather bunches of Melilotus to hang in their houses for its 
fragrance. 
ASTRAGALUS CAROLINIANA L. Little Rattle-pod. 
Ga'satho (Omaha-Ponca), rattle. 
When ripe, the stalks with their persistent pods were used by 
small boys as rattles in the games in which they imitated the tribal 
dances, hence the Omaha-Ponca name signifying “ rattle.” No other 
use was found for the plant except to serve as a kind of mat on which 
was laid the fresh meat in course of butchering on the prairie, so that 
it might be kept free from dirt. 
A decoction of the root was used among the Teton Dakota as a 
febrifuge for children. 
GEOPRUMNON crRAssicarPpuM (Nutt.) Rydb. Buffalo Pea, Ground 
Plum. 
Pte ta wote (Dakota), “ food of buffalo” (pte, buffalo; wote, food; 
ta, genitive sign). 
