5  iy  i  Plants  Used  by  the  Indians.         { ^££'Jj!!m' 
but  the  Indians  are  glad  to  obtain  them.  They  are  ground  fine  and  made  into- 
biscuits.  The  seeds  have  a  decidedly  salty,  potash  taste.  The  flour  tastes  best 
when  made  into  mush.  The  Coahuila  Indians  of  Southern  California  make  a  fine 
black  dye  by  steeping  a  quantity  of  this  plant  in  water.  For  coloring  their  baskets 
black,  they  take  some  mature  rushes  and  steep  them  several  hours  in  this  black  dye, 
which  is  very  penetrating,  and  the  color  is  durable,  but  it  has  a  very  fetid,  disagree- 
able smell. 
.  Dalea  Emoryi,  D.  polyadenia. — Branches  of  this  plant  steeped  in  water  form  a 
bright  yellowish-brown  dye,  and  emit  a  strong  rue-like  odor.  The  Coahuila  In- 
dians of  California,  to  ornament  their  baskets  of  a  yellowish-brown  color,  steep 
their  rushes  in  a  dye  of  that  color  prepared  from  these  Daleas. 
Larrea  mextcana,  Tah-sun-up  of  the  Pah-Utes.— It  is  one  of  the  commonest  plants 
of  Southern  California,  Lower  California,  Arizona  and  Southern  Utah.  A  lotion  made 
by  steeping  branches  of  this  plant  in  water,  and  applied  to  sores  of  man  or  beasts, 
proves  very  efficacious,  and  a  powder  prepared  from  the  dry  leaves  is  good  for 
chronic  sores.  From  the  old  wood  exudes  an  abundance  of  a  gum,  which  is  softened 
and  used  by  the  Indians  to  cement  their  flint  arrow  heads  into  their  shafts.  The 
Apache  Indians  use  this  gum  as  a  styptic.  The  settlers  of  Utah  often  use  this  plant 
in  dyeing,  as  it  produces  a  greenish-yellow  color,  and  garments  thus  dyed  have  the 
curious  property  of  emitting  a  very  disagreeable  resinous  odor  ever  afterwards  on 
being  heated.  In  consequence  of  the  peculiar  odor  of  the  fresh  plant,  it  is  sometimes 
called  creasote  wood. 
Garrya  fla<vescens. — The  fruit  of  this  plant  yields  a  violet  coloring  matter,  which 
is  used  by  Arizona  Indians.  The  leaves  are  used  for  ague  and  for  colds,  made  into 
a  tea  and  taken  internally. 
Trichostemma  lanatum. — By  Mexicans  and  the  Indians  of  Southern  California  it: 
is  called  Romero.  It  is  used  by  them  to  impart  a  dark  or  black  color  to  the  hair, 
and  to  promote  its  growth.  A  strong  decoction  is  made  of  the  leaves  which  is  fre- 
quently applied  to  the  hair.  It  is  a  very  beautiful  plant,  with  bright  blue  flowers 
which  emit  a  strong  odor  of  hops. 
Orthocarpus  luteus. — This  plant  yields  a  delicate  pink  color,  which  is  used  by  the 
Nevada  Indians. 
Eritrichium  micranthum.-'Tht  slender  roots  of  this  plant  yield  a  delicate  yellow 
paint,  used  by  Indians  of  Utah. 
Lithospermum  longijiorum — The  root  yields  a  purple  color-,  it  is  the  Puccoon  of 
the  Eastern  Indians. 
Polyporus  officinalis,  a  fungus  which  yields  a  reddish  coloring  matter  which  at 
one  time  was  much  used  by  Indians  to  paint  their  faces.  Now  vermillion  ia  so 
cheap  that  it  has  to  a  great  extreme  superseded  this. 
E<vernia  <vulpina,  a  lichen  which  yields  the  highly  prized  yellow  paint  found  so 
frequently  among  the  Western  Indians.  The  Apaches  of  Arizona  carry  a  portion 
of  it  carefully  in  a  small  buckskin  bag.  It  is  considered  a  charm  when  applied  to 
the  face,  and  a  cross  of  this  color  on  their  feet  enables  them  to  pass  their  enemies 
unseen. —  The  American  Naturalist,  Sept. 
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