Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
Nov.,  1878. 
Plants  Used  by  the  Indians. 
547 
into  bread  or  gruel.  Sometimes  they  are  eaten  separately  or  even  in  soups.  Many 
of  the  Western  Indians  use  these  seed  unmixed  as  food. 
Salvia  columbaria ;  Chia  of  the  Mexicans  and  Indians  of  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico. — The  seeds  are  used  by  them  as  food  and  medicine.  Steeped  in  water 
they  form  a  very  nutritive  drink  for  the  sick.  In  the  form  of  mush  they  resemble 
flax  in  properties  and  taste.  In  Mazatlan,  Mexico,  a  drink  prepared  from  the  seed 
is  sold  in  the  streets.    The  meal  forms  a  fine  poultice  for  wounds,  etc. 
Medicago  sativa,  the  introduced  plant,  alfalfa.  The  Pah-Utes  use  the  seeds 
ground  up  and  cooked  into  mush  or  gruel.  The  Indians  and  white  settlers 
gather  the  tender  branches  and  cook  them  as  greens. 
Miscellaneous. — Scirpus  <validus  (Tule  plant).  The  Indians  of  California 
make  bread  out  of  the  pollen  of  this  plant,  and  the  root  is  eaten  by  many  tribes 
either  raw  or  made  into  bread.  The  leaves  are  woven  into  mats  and  are  used  to 
cover  their  huts. 
Typba  latifola  (cat-tail  rush.)  The  Pah-Utes  eat  the  flowering  ends,  in  the 
spring,  raw  or  cooked.  When  boiled  in  water  they  are  very  tender,  making 
good  soup,  which  is  considered  a  great  delicacy. 
Eriogonum  inflatum .—The  tender  stems  of  this  plant  are  rather  acid.  They  are 
«aten  raw  by  the  Indians  of  Southern  Utah. 
Porphyra  vulgaris,  a  sea  weed  commonly  called  Laver  on  our  Eastern  coast. 
It  is  found  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  world  at  low  tide.  Many  of  the  Indians 
along  the  Pacific  coast  eat  this  plant  cooked  as  greens  or  with  meat.  It  is 
wiuch  relished  by  Chinamen,  and  is  quite  an  article  of  commerce.  The  Chinamen 
residing  along  the  coast,  at  low  tides,  gather  this  plant,  which  is  easily  taken  from 
the  rocks.  It  is  then  placed  in  round  masses  to  dry,  after  which  they  are  baled 
and  sent  to  China.  It  sells  from  five  to  eight  cents  per  pound  in  San  Francisco  at 
•wholesale,  to  be  shipped  to  China. 
Caulanthus  crassicaulis  and  Stanleya  pinnatifida  are  eaten  raw  in  the  spring  by 
the  Pah-Ute  Indians,  the  young  plants  being  tender,  and  when  cooked  taste  like 
cabbage.  For  this  reason  these  plants  are  called  cabbage  by  the  settlers  of  Utah. 
The  Indians  gather  the  seeds,  and  after  reducing  them  to  flour  make  them  into 
mush. 
Cotyledon  lanceolata,  C.  pulverulenta,  cet. — The  tender  leaves  of  these  plants  in 
spring  are  eaten  raw  by  the  Indians  of  Southern  California,-  their  soft,  succulent 
nature  causes  them  to  be  prized  by  some  white  people.  As  they  grow  in  places  not 
contiguous  to  water,  the  moist  leaves  are  used  to  quench  thirst. 
Aphyllon  californicum  and  A.  ludo<vicianum,  are  parasitic  plants  that  grow 
upon  the  roots  of  many  species.  All  the  plant  except  the  bloom  grows  under 
ground,  and  consequently  is  nearly  all  very  white  and  succulent.  The  Pah  Utes 
consume  great  numbers  of  them  in  summer  while  on  their  hunting  excursions  after 
rabbits.  Being  succulent  they  answer  for  food  and  drink  on  these  sandy  plains,  and, 
indeed,  are  often  called  "  sand-food." 
Hemitonia  fasciculata,  Tar-nveed. — This  plant  in  case  of  hunger  is  eaten  by  the 
Indians  of  Southern  California  after  being  cooked  in  the  following  manner:  A 
quantity  of  the  plants  are  boiled  down  until  the  liquid  is  of  a  thick  tarry  consistency, 
when  it  is  ready  for  the  stomach  of  the  Indian.    Its  tar-like  taste  is  objected  to  by 
