Mint Family. A rare plant and found only in a few localities on the mid-coastal ranges, as in Orange County, San Juan Capistrano, at Hot Springs, situated on the southern slopes of the Trabuco mountains, Los Angeles County, Fish Canyon, Pasadena in Santa Barbara County, the heavy woodlands of Montecito Valley and in the Old Spanish Grand Rancho, San Leandro. It is also found northward as far as San Francisco at Angel Islands. The infusion was taken to soothe the nervous system in cases of insomnia.
Catarrh of the head and nasal chambers.
PLATANUS OCCIDENTALIS
(Ind. Ci-vil)
American Sycamore. It is an inhabitant of the California mountain ranges. The underside of its leaves bears a very fine yellowish moss, which the beautiful little hummingbirds like to use for building their tiny nests. In fact, they prefer it to any other material on account of its extreme softness.
These leaves are valuable as an effective cure for old chronic cases of catarrh, when the catarrh has passed into internal ulcers, which continually discharge material of an offensive odor.
The moss scraped from the underside of the leaves, carefully and patiently enough to have a sufficient supply to compound it with the dry powdered yolks of the eggs of quail and an infusion of Andromeda polifolia was also made and used as a nasal douche, to cleanse the conduits, followed afterwards by sniffing the powdered compound before retiring for the night.
HELENIUM AUTUMNALE—HELENIUM NUDIFLORUM
(Ind. Pe-bah)
American Sneeze-Weed. Both inhabit swamps and mountain springs.
ANDROMEDA POLIFOLIA
(Ind. Ho-bef-zo-bal)
American Moorwort. This is found only at very high mountain altitudes.