BOTANY. 103 
genous beech, elm, hickory, locust, acacia, or sassafras. Our 
wild cherry and wild plum are bushes, but their fruits resem- 
ble the wild plums and cherries of the Kast. We have willows 
and cottonwood, which differ little in appearance from those 
of the Mississippi valley. There are wild grapes, blackberries, 
gooseberries, huckleberries, raspberries, salmon-berries, and 
strawberries. A truffle, or a root resembling it, is found in 
‘the valleys of the coast and the Sierra Nevada. The grizzly 
bear considers it a delicacy, and frequently digs it up. A 
shrub called the “joint-fir” (a species of Hphedra), sometimes 
used for making tea, is found in Calaveras and Tuolumne coun- 
ties. In the valleys of the Coast Mountains is found the yerba 
buena (Spanish for “good herb”), a creeping vine, bearing 
some resemblance in its leaf and vine to the wild strawberry. 
It has a strong perfume, half-way between peppermint and 
camphor. The yerba de la vibora (Spanish for “rattlesnake- 
herb,” known to botanists as the Daucus pusillus) is a carrot- 
like vegetable, the leaves of which are said to be a specific for 
the bite of the rattlesnake. 
§ 83. Poison Oak.—The poison oak, or poison ivy (Rhus 
toxicodendron), grows abundantly in the Sacramento Basin, 
and along the coast. It thrives best on a moist soil, and in 
the shade. In a thicket with other bushes it sends up many 
thin stalks eight or ten feet high, with large, luxuriant leaves 
at the top; in the shade, the leaves are green. In the open, 
dry ground, exposed to the sun, and without support from oth- 
er bushes, the poison oak is a low, poverty-stricken little shrub, 
with a few red leaves. If it can attach itself to an oak-tree, 
it becomes a parasitic vine, and attains a thickness, though very 
rarely, of four inches in the trunk, and climbs to a height of 
forty feet. The touch of the leaf is poisonous, and causes a 
very irritating eruption of the skin. It rapidly communicates 
by the touch from one part of the body to another, causing 
severe inflammations and swellings. «he most delicate parts 
of the body are most affected by the poison. The eyes are 
sometimes closed up entirely by the swelling round them; and 
