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- Yerba Mansa (Anemopsis californica)
Common name: Yerba Mansa, Lizard tail Scientific name: Anemopsis californica Description: A perennial plant with semi-lanceolate leaves and white-topped spikes. The plant has a musty or spice smell, and the entire plant turns red in the fall. Dye: Brown. Other uses: Widely used for a variety of medicinal purposes. - Wolfberry (Lycium spp.)
Common names: Wolfberry, Boxthorn Scientific name: Lycium spp. Description: A medium-sized woody shrub with small, grouped thick narrow leaves, small white to light purple flowered, and bright orange-red berries. Uses: The berries may be dried and eaten as a snack or processed into sauces and/or jams. - Velvet Mesquite (Prosopis velutina)
Common names: Mesquite Scientific name: Prosopis velutina Description: A common desert tree with catkin-like clusters of greenish-yellow flowers from April to June. The flowers are followed by long sweet-smelling bean pods. Dye: Black from the sap. Weaving: The shredded inner bark woven into baskets. Other uses: Food such as 'pinole' meal-cakes and tea. - Triangle Leaf Bursage (Ambrosia deltoidea)
Common name: Triangle Leaf Bursage, Burrobush, Rabbitbush Scientific name: Ambrosia deltoidea Description: Triangle leaf bursage is a small round shrub with slender, brittle branches, triangular serrated leaves, small greenish-yellow flowers,and bur-like seeds. - Sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri)
Common name: Sotol Scientific name: Dasylirion wheeleri Uses: Until a few decades ago, the Tohono O’odham (Papago) wove beautiful sleeping mats by plaiting together sotol leaves after removing marginal teeth. - Slipper Plant (Euphorbia antisyphilitica)
Common name: Slipper Plant, Lady's Slipper Scientific name: Euphorbia antisyphilitica Description: This plant is an succulent that blooms in the fall. The plant grows as masses of clumped stems capped with yellow to orange-red flowers when in bloom. - Shrub Live-Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Common name: Live Oak Scientific name: Quercus turbinella Uses: Acorns (nuts) widely eaten as food by Acoma, Apache, Cocopah, Gosiute, Havasupai, Hualapai, Laguna, Mohave, Navajo, Papago, Pima, Southern Paiute, Tewa, Uintah Ute, Yavapai, and Yuma. Variously used for making tools/tool parts (digging sticks, handles, etc.), ceremonial/ritual purposes, and as a tannin (Apache). Sap may also be used as chewing gum or as an adhesive (Navajo). - Saguaro Ribs
Subject: The woody ribs of the Saguaro were used as fencing and house construction material. - Saguaro in the Snow
Description: Saguaro in the snow near Tucson, Arizona. Collection: Northern Arizona University Anthropology Laboratories. - Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea)
Common name: Saguaro Scientific name: Carnegiea gigantea Description: A towering cactus with upraised "arms," large white flowers, and red fruit. Dye: None. Other uses: The saguaro fruit is an important seasonal food, available after the season called the “Painful Moon” or “Hunger Hurting Moon.” The beginning of the Tohono O’odham and Piman year is haashañ bahidag mashad, the “Saguaro Harvest Moon.” In June and early July, O’odham live in temporary camps in the saguaro forests and conduct the saguaro fruit harvest (hasañ bahidaj). Women use poles made from saguaro ribs to knock down saguaro fruits. The pulp is boiled down to a syrup and prepared as a wine that is consumed during the rainmaking ceremony. The seeds may be dried for a winter snack, or ground into flour and made into a gruel. The Pima have traditionally dried the fruit and prepared it as jam and syrup - ground seeds were mixed with grains to make a porridge or peanut butter-like paste. - Roasted Agave Hearts
Subject: Roasted agave hearts. - Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.)
Common name: Prickly Pear Scientific name: Opuntia spp. Description: A variety of prickly pear species grow in the Southwest, all with large fleshy pads and dark red to purple fruits. Dye: Ground up cochineal (a scale insect that feeds on prickly pear) were processed by native peoples to create red or purple textile dyes. In Europe this color of dye was so rare that only royalty could afford it. In some kingdoms the colors “royal purple”(derived from a sea cucumber) and, after discovery of the New World, royal crimson from cochineal, were reserved for the king by law. Cultivation and export of cochineal dye became a major economic activity, and its source was kept secret for many years. Other uses: Pads and fruit may be prepared as food or beverage by Acoma, Apache, Laguna, Cochiti, Havasupai, Hopi, Isleta, Navajo, Papago, Pima. Isleta have used dried pulp for candlemaking. Also used for medicinal/ceremonial/symbolic purposes by several groups. - Pincushion Cactus (Mammillaria microcarpa)
Common name: Pincushion Cactus, Mammillaria, Nipple Cactus, Fishhook Cactus Scientific name: Mammillaria microcarpa Description: Very small barrel-like cactus with showy pink flowers, short white spines, and long curved reddish-brown spines. Uses: Among the Papago and Pima, used as a water supplement (when opened and chewed). The red cactus fruit may be rubbed on arrowshafts as coloring/dye. - Oracle, Arizona
Description: A basin dominated by prickly pear cactus and shrubby grown in the lower elevations surrounding the Santa Catalina mountains near Oracle, northeast of Tucson, Arizona. Collection: Northern Arizona University Anthropology Laboratories. - Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens)
Common name: Ocotillo Scientific name: Fouquieria splendens Description: Tall, woody cactus with small green leaves and red flowers. Dye: None. Other uses: Among the Papago and Pima, ocotillo has been used for fencing, house walls, and ramada roofs. The cut, buried stems often root, creating a living fence. The flowers may soaked in cold water to make a refreshing beverage. Portions of the plant were also formerly used for medicinal purposes.