USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



tea is made of the dried leaves and taken freely ; or 

 it may be prepared by boiling with sugar, if it is 

 desired to disguise the bitterness. The pounded 

 leaves have also been used as a poultice, bound upon 

 sores. 



The civilized drug Grrindelia is derived from 

 certain species of a botanic genus of that name be- 

 longing to the Sunflower family and occurring 

 rather abundantly on the plains and dry hillsides 

 west of the Mississippi. They are coarse, sticky 

 plants, characterized by white, gummy exudations 

 upon the buds and flower heads (these latter are 

 conspicuously yellow-rayed) and are popularly 

 called, on that account. Gum-plants. The California 

 Indians are credited with being the pioneers in dis- 

 covering the remedial secret of these plants, the 

 species most used by them being apparently Grin- 

 delia robusta, Nutt. A decoction of the leaves and 

 flowering tops collected during the early period of 

 bloom is a mild stomachic, and is taken to purify 

 the blood, as well as to relieve throat and lung 

 troubles. 



The Indian is also to be thanked for our knowl- 

 edge of Yerba Mansa (or more correctly, Yerba del 

 Manso, "the herb of the tamed Indian"), common 

 in wet, alkaline soil throughout much of the South- 



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