110 USES OF PLANTS BY INDIANS [ETH. ANN. 33 
of floral buds; and the young fruits while firm and green. It is 
prepared by boiling. Small boys used the fiber of the mature stalks 
of this plant for popgun wads, chewing it for the purpose. 
When the Omaha first saw cabbage and noted its use boiled, as 
they boiled waktha, they likened it to that, and so named cabbage 
waktha wale, “white man’s walsitha.” Likewise the Pawnee named 
cabbage haripiku tsahiks-taka, “white man’s karipiku” (tsahiks, 
person ; taka, white). 
Ascuepras exattTata (L.) Muh]. Tall Milkweed. 
Waktha-ska (Omaha-Ponca), white waktha (ska, white; wasitha, 
as stated before, is the Omaha-Ponca name of Asclepias 
syriaca). 
The root was eaten raw as a remedy for stomach trouble. 
CONVOLVULACEAE 
TroMora LEPTOPHYLLA Torr. Bush Morning-glory. (Pls. 25, 26.) 
Kahts-tuwiriki (Pawnee), “whirlwind medicine” (tuwiriki, 
whirlwind). So called because of the peculiar twisted nature of 
the fibrovascular system. 
Among the Pawnee the large, perennial storage root of this xero- 
phytic plant is highly prized as a remedy for nervousness and bad 
dreams. For this purpose 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. 
Cuscura parapoxa Raf. Dodder, Love Vine. 
Hakastahkata (Pawnee), “yellow vine” (hakastah, vine; kata, 
yellow). 
The dodder vine was used by Pawnee maidens to divin 
their suitors were sincere. A girl having plucked a vine, 
thought of the young man in mind tossed the vine over her aes 
into the weeds of host species of this dodder. Then, turnir ; :Jund, 
she marked the plant on which the vine fell. The second — ter 
she would return to see whether the dodder had attached itself 1 
was growing on its host. If so, she went away content with ' 
assurance of her lover’s sincerity and faithfulness. If the doar > 
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 
v 
