GILMoRE] TAXONOMIC LIST OF PLANTS 93 
is no easy task to harvest it. The top of the plant breaks off soon 
after ripening, and is blown away, scattering the seed, so the root 
is then almost impossible to find; hence it must be harvested before 
. this occurs. The top usually has three or four branches. When the 
women and children go to the prairie to gather the roots, on finding a 
plant the mother tells the children to note the directions in which the 
several branches point and a child is sent in the general direction of 
each branch to look for another plant, for they say the plants “ point 
to each other.” 
Psoralea has so important a place in the economy of the Plains 
tribes and has had for so long a time that it enters into their my- 
thology, folklore, stories, and sleight-of-hand tricks. In the story 
“How the Big Turtle Went to War,” as told in the Omaha tribe, it 
is said Viug¢evha"-biama, “Psoralea he cooked, they say.” 
PsoraLeA TENUIFLORA Pursh. 
Tichanicha-hu (Dakota). 
Among the Teton Dakota the root of this plant, with two others, 
the names of which I did not learn, were boiled together to make a 
inedicine to be taken for consumption. Garlands were made of the 
tops, to be worn for protection of the head from the heat of the sun 
on very hot days. 
Amorrua Fruticosa L. False Indigo, Water-string. 
Kitsuhast (Pawnee), “ water-string” (Aitsw, water; hastu, string). 
Whenever possible to obtain it near the butchering place on the 
prairie this shrub was gathered and spread on the ground to receive 
the pieces of meat and keep them clean. 
AMORPHA CANESCENS Pursh. Lead Plant, Shoestring. 
Te-hu"to-hi (Omaha-Poncea), “ butfalo bellow plant” (te, buffalo ; 
hurto", bellow; hi, plant). The name is derived from the fact 
that its time of blooming is synchronous with the rutting season 
of the buffalo, being at that season the dominant blooming plant 
on the prairie of the loess plain. 
The stems were used by the Omaha for a moxa in cases of neuralgia 
and rheumatism. The small stems, broken in short pieces, were at- 
tached to the skin by moistening one end with the tongue. Then they 
were fired and allowed to burn down to the skin. 
An Oglala said the leaves were sometimes used to make a hot 
drink like tea, and sometimes for smoking material. For this pur- 
pose after being dried and crushed fine they were mixed with a little 
buffalo fat. 
1Dorsey Zegiha Language, p. 256. 
