USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



Cascara sagrada for the medical trade is an im- 

 portant minor industry in the Pacific Northwest, the 

 bark of the Purshiana or arboreal form being the 

 kind preferred. There is a considerable European 

 demand for it, as well as from American chemists. 



Another of the famous Pacific Coast remedies is 

 Yerba Santa, whose Spanish name (meaning "holy- 

 herb") also betrays its connection with the Cali- 

 fornia Mission days, when the Padres not only 

 instructed Indians but now and then learned some- 

 thing from them. An American common name for 

 the plant — Consumptive's Weed^ — indicates one of 

 its popular uses. It has, in fact, been esteemed for 

 generations in California as an expectorant, a blood 

 purifier, and a tonic — a standby in all bronchial and 

 respiratory troubles. Botanically it is Eriodictyon 

 glutinosum, Benth., and is a shrubby plant, three to 

 seven feet high, with dark green, resinous leaves 

 (shaped somewhat like those of the peach) glutinous 

 and shining on the upper side and whitish under- 

 neath, the flowers tubular, clustered and usually 

 purple but sometimes white. It is abundant on dry 

 hillsides and among the chaparral throughout much 

 of California and southward into Mexico. A bitter 



1 others are Mountain Balm, Gum Leaves, Bear's-weed and Wild 

 Peach. 



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