USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



edge of the cleansing property resident in this bulb 

 is a gift from the California Indian, who, in spite of 

 the popular notion to the contrary, has a taste — 

 though not an extravagant taste — for cleanliness. 



Another well-known California soap plant is a 

 species of Pig-weed {Chenopodium Californicum, 

 Wats.), abundant throughout much of the State in 

 arroyos and on moist hillsides. It is a stout, weedy- 

 looking herb, with inconspicuous, greenish flowers 

 in slender, terminal spikes, and toothed, triangular 

 leaves turning yellow and dying as the dry season 

 advances. The stout stems, a foot or two high, grow 

 numerously from the crown of a very deep-seated, 

 spindle-shaped root which is at times a foot long 

 and requires industrious digging to lift it from its 

 earthy bed. While fresh it is rather brittle and 

 readily crushed with a hammer, when, if agitated in 

 water, it quickly communicates a soapy frothiness 

 to the liquid, and is cleansing like the other suds 

 noted. The roots may be laid away for use when 

 dry, in which state they are as hard almost as stone, 

 and require to be grated or ground in a handmill 

 before using. The saponaceous property in this root 

 was also discovered first by the Indians.^ 



1 The roots of the Southern Buckeye or Horsechestnut {Aesculus 

 Pavia, L.) are rich in saponin, and Dr. Porcher states that their 



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