598 
Chlorogalu m  Pomeridianu in. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\       Dec,  1890. 
SOME    INDIAN    FOOD    PLANTS— CALIFORNIA  SOAP 
PLANT. 
V. — Chlorogalum  pomeridianum,  Kunth. 
By  Henry  Trimble. 
Contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. — 
No.  79. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  November  18. 
While  the  above  is  not  strictly  a  food  plant,  nevertheless  the 
above  title  is  retained  as  an  appropriate  one  for  the  Indian  domestic 
plants. 
For  the  material  of  the  chemical  examination,  as  well  as  for  the 
following  report,  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  V.  Havard,  U.  S.  Army 
Surgeon,  at  Fort  Buford,  N.  Dakota  : 
"  This  is  one  of  the  many  showy  plants  of  the  California  Liliaceae, 
and  well  worthy  of  cultivation  for  its  beauty. 
"  Stem  stout,  scarcely  leafy,  from  a  fibrous  or  membraneously 
coated  bulb,  bearing  a  spreading  sparingly  '  branched  racemose 
panicle,'  1  to  3  feet  high  ;  leaves  broadly  linear,  somewhat  fleshy 
and  flaccid,  about  a  foot  long  and  half  an  inch  wide  ;  pedicles  short, 
scattered,  bearing  white  purplish-veined  flowers,  whose  6  segments 
are  8  to  10  lines  long.  The  flowers  open  only  after  midday,  whence 
the  specific  name. 
"  Grows  in  valleys  and  foot-hills  of  the  Pacific  Coast  from  Oregon 
to  Central  America.  In  California,  it  is.  abundant  in  places  <  from 
the  Upper  Sacramento  to  the  Stanislaus,  Monterey  and  Santa  Bar- 
bara.' 
"  The  ovate  bulb  is  one  to  four  inches  in  diameter  and  about  four 
inches  in  length.  The  coats  of  which  it  is  made  up  are  thick  and 
fleshy  in  the  centre,  the  white-yellowish  section  exuding  a  thickish 
frothy  mucus  ;  they  grow  thinner  and  drier  on  approaching  the 
surface,  where  they  become  membraneous  fibrous,  and  finally  break 
on  the  outside  into  a  thick  covering  of  coarse,  brownish  fibres 
resembling  the  coir  of  the  cocoa  nut. 
"  These  fibres  are  light,  elastic,  of  good  strength  and  durable. 
They  have  been  separated  from  the  bulbs,  especially  by  the  Chinese, 
and  used  as  hair  to  fill  cushions,  mattresses,  etc.,  constituting,  in 
places,  quite  an  article  of  commerce. 
"  The  bulb  has  for  a  long  time  been  held  in  high  esteem  by 
Indians  and  Mexicans  for  its  detergent  properties,  which  make  it 
