602 Plants Used by Indians of the United States. [ September, 
variety has been grown by the Indians since the recollection of 
the oldest person among them. Well preserved kernels and cobs 
are found in the mounds of Utah. This species of corn grows 
from two and a half to three feet high and is cultivated by the . 
Indians on the river bottoms, maturing in sixty or seventy days. 
The ears come out of the stalk five or six inches from the ground. 
Corn is a staple article of food with these Indians. In 1873 a 
Pah-Ute Chief, Tutzegavet, brought some very fine corn of his 
own raising to the agricultural fair, held at St. George, Southern 
Utah, and the first premium for that product was awarded to him. 
Helianthus petiolaris, H. lenticularis, native sunflowers, Aw% of 
the Pah-Utes. The seeds of these plants form one of the staple 
articles of food for many Indians, and they gather them in great 
quantities. The agreeable oily nature of the seeds render them 
very palatable. When parched and ground they are highly 
prized and are eaten on hunting excursions. The meal or flour 
is also made into thin cakes and baked in hot ashes. These 
cakes are of a gray color, rather coarse looking, but palatable and 
very nutritious. Having eaten of the bread made from sunflow- 
ers I must say that it is as good as much of the corn bread eaten 
by Whites. 
Mokeack Sunflower —A Pah-Ute chief obtained some seed of the 
large, cultivated sunflower and planted them, raising a large crop. 
Now many of the Indians plant this sunflower, and it goes under 
the name of the Chief Mokeack. 
The native sunflower of Utah yields an exudation from the 
stems of creamy white color, nearly tasteless, but of a gummy 
nature. It is eaten by the Indians and white children of Utah, or 
rather chewed in place of pine gum. 
Portulaca oleracea-——The seeds of this plant after being re- 
duced to flour are eaten in the form of mush. The plant when 
tender is cooked as greens by the Pah-Ute Indians. 
Sporobolus cryptandrus, or Quaque of the Pah-Utes, a species of 
` grass, the seeds of which are much used by the Indians as an ar- 
ticle of food. After being parched they are ground and mixed 
with water or milk and made into mush or biscuits. The flavor 
_ is good, and food thus prepared is very nutritious. The leaves 
_ yield a short, fine fibre, adapted to the manufacture of paper. It is 
_ abundant about St. George, Southern Utah. 
~ Sporobolus airoides, Eragrostis purshii, Panicum crusgalli and — 
