YERBA MANSA.
Anemopsis Californica, Hook. Yerba Mansa Family.
Rootstock creeping. Radical-leaves.—Long-petioled; elliptic oblong; two to ten inches long. Stems.—Six inches to two feet high. Flowers.—Without sepals and petals, sunk in a conical spike; six to eighteen lines long; a small white bract under each flower. Spikes.—Subtended by from five to eight white petal-like bracts, six to fifteen lines long. Stamens.—Three to eight. Ovary.—Apparently one-celled. Stigmas one to five. Hab.—Southern to Central California.
Just as the fervid glow of the sun is beginning to transform the green of our southern hill-slopes to soft browns, the still vividly green lowland meadows suddenly bring forth myriads of white stars, which in their green setting become grateful resting-points for the eye. These are the blossoms of the famous Yerba Mansa of the Spanish-Californians. Among these people the plant is an infallible remedy for many disorders, and so highly do they prize it, that they often travel or send long distances for it.
[YERBA MANSA—Anemopsis Californica.]
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The aromatic root, which has a strong, peppery taste, is very astringent, and when made into a tea or a powder, is applied with excellent results to cuts and sores. The tea is also taken as a blood-purifier; and the plant, in the form of a wash or poultice, is used for rheumatism, while the wilted leaves are said to reduce swellings. In the medical world it is beginning to be used in diseases of the mucous membrane.