PHARMACAL PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 
149 
786. Silybum marianum Gaert. Mariana. Composite. 
Seeds used as an antispasmodie. Requires further study. 
787. Simmondsia californica Nutt. Garryacece. 
A large shrub with a curious fruit. The nuts (seeds) taste something 
like filberts but leave a bitter after taste. The Indians use the seed as 
food. The Coahilla Indians prepare a drink from the ground seeds. 
The oil of the seeds is much used as a hair tonic. 
788. Sinapis alba L. and S. nigra Koek. Mustard. Cruciferce. 
English mustard has been grown on an enormous scale in the Lompoc 
Valley in California. ‘ ‘ Mustards ’ ’ of all kinds are very profuse through- 
out the State, growing very rank and constitute a very troublesome pest 
to the farmer. 
789. Sisyrinchium bellum AVats. Star grass. Azulea. Villela. 
Iridacece. 
A common California plant. A tea made from it is used in the treat- 
ment of fevers. A popular notion prevails that it is possible to subsist 
for many days on this tea alone. 
790. Sissymbrium pinnatum Greene. Tansy mustard. Palmita. 
Cruciferce. 
The seeds, cooked and seasoned with salt, with milk and sugar added, 
are eaten. Used largely by the old squaws. 
791. Sium cicutaefolium Gmel. AVater parsnip. Umbelliferce. 
A poisonous plant. Children and others occasionally eat the roots, 
mistaking them for parsnips. (Proc. A. Pli. A. 25: 168, 1877.) 
792. Smilacina amplexicaulis Nutt, False Solomon’s seal. Liliacece. 
Common in woodlands along the coast. (U. S. D.) 
793. Smilax species. Sarsaparilla. Smilacece. 
The medicinal sarsaparilla is not cultivated commercially within the 
State. No doubt certain portions of southern California would be well 
suited to this plant. 
794. Solanum dulcamara L. Bittersweet. Solanacece. 
A well-known foreign medicinal plant which could be cultivated very 
readily. 
795. Solanum nigrum L. Black nightshade. Solanacece. 
Specially common in the eastern United States, but rapidly spreading 
westward, and very abundant in certain localities in the State. Com- 
monly known as deadly nightshade, and also as belladonna, and by some 
has been mistaken for the true belladonna. The unripe fruits are 
poisonous, but the ripe fruits are said to be eaten. The active con- 
stituent is solanine, whose physiological action requires further study. 
