DENNSTAEDTIA PUNCTILOBULA
(Ind. Ma-ciel)
American Hay-Scented Wild Fern. Its habitat lies in the high California mountain ranges. We are now coming to the tuberculosis line. Hemorrhages of the lungs, and common diseases which prevail to a great extent among people who, through neglect and irregular habits, intensify coughs and colds.
It was nothing to an Indian to overcome these maladies of the lungs, which in his case were usually due to accidental injury. This wild fern bears oil nodules on the crown of the root system and they are available only at a certain period, from May to June.
Coughs and asthma.
ERIODICTYON GLUTINOSUM CALIFORNICUM
(Ind. Tan-que-bel)
Commonly known as Yerba Santa, this plant proved to be possessed of great medicinal merits, and was very soon adopted by the mission friars for its outstanding qualities in the cure of coughs, asthma, rheumatism and pneumonia, being rightly considered as far superior in this respect to any of the other medicines brought by them from Europe. In fact, so great was the medicinal usefulness of these plants and hundreds of others known to the Indians, that they soon became the objects of study and investigation, which, however, met with failure, due to the severe punishment meted out to any and all Indians for divulging any secrets pertaining to the medical history of plants used by the tribes. A penalty which was sufficient to deter them from any further misdeeds in that direction, and which they always remembered. Quite a contrast to the modern, elastic laws of our present civilization.
ERIODICTYON CALIFORNICUM
(Ind. Que-bel)
American White Woolly Holly Plant is the sister plant of E. glutinosum.