USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



On the Pacific Slope one of the cherished berries 

 for jelly making is the Manzanita {Arctostaphylos 

 of several species), a remarkable evergreen shrub, 

 or sometimes a small tree, whose shiny, chocolate- 

 colored trunk and twisting branches, as hard as bone, 

 are familiar to every traveler in the California 

 mountains. The popular name is Spanish for ''little 

 apple," and aptly describes the appearance of the 

 fruit. This is borne very abundantly and is ripe in 

 mid-summer. The mountain folk, describing the 

 plant, will tell you there are two kinds, one with 

 smooth berries and the other with sticky ones: but 

 botanists are not so easily satisfied, and have 

 described at least a dozen species. The one most 

 often used for jelly is Arctostaphylos Mansanita, 

 Parry, common in mountainous regions throughout 

 the length of California, and also, I believe, in parts 

 of Arizona and Utah. The berries are smooth 

 skinned, with an agreeable acid flavor, and 

 nutritious, but dry, mealy and seedy. Chewed as 

 one travels, they are a capital thirst preventive, but 

 the pulp should be very sparingly swallowed, as it 

 is quite hard to digest. Indians, in former days, 

 however, set great store by them as an article of 

 diet, and in specific Manzanita tracts, just as in the 

 oak-groves, there were recognized tribal or family 



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