Ethnobotany of Desert Plants

Every year my folks and I make our annual spring trip to Southern California. We love getting together, and heading out into the desert to look for flowers. This year, I decided to learn more about how American natives (and later settlers) used the plants in everyday life.

	Agave (Agave deserti) The leaves, stalks, and blooms were eaten. Thorns were used as awls. Fibers were used to make sandals, skirts, mats, cords, bowstrings, and snares.
	Barrel Cactus (Enchinocactus acanthodes) The flesh was stewed to make a cabbage-like soup, and the pulp was made into candy. Water could be extracted from the pulp. Spines were fashioned into fish hooks.
	Brittle Bush (Encelia farinosa) The clear resin secreted from the brittle bush stem was used as a glue, and as a gum. The resin was ground into a paste, and used as a toothpaste. The paste was also sprinkled on sores or heated and spread on the body to relieve pain. Spanish missionaries burned the resin as incense.
	Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata) The leaves were used as antiseptics, which destroy germs; and as emetics, which induce vomiting to clear poisons from the body.
	Honey Mesquite, or Screwbean Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) The blooms and green bean pods were ground to extract juice, and the dried bean pods were ground to produce flour.
	Jojoba (Simmodsia chinensis) Oil was extracted from the seeds, and used to treat sores and wounds.
	Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) The rope-like centers from the tree limbs were used as canisters for nuts and berries. Settlers used the tree to make paper, as splints, for fence posts, and roasted as a sugary treat.
	Oak (Quercus spp.) Acorns were soaked and ground into meal, and used for food.
	Palo Verde (Parkinsonia floridum) Seeds were ground into flour for food, and used to make necklaces. A red dye was made from the flowers.
	Yucca (Yucca ssp.) The fruit pods were eaten for food. Fibers were used for making string, rope, nets, paint brushes, and sandals. The roots were used as soap.

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Learn more:

• Blue Planet Biomes Web Site, the Desert Plant page: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/desert_plant_page.htm 
• Lowell and Diana Lindsay. The Anza-Borrego Desert Region: A Guide to the State Park and the Adjacent Areas.  Berkeley, California: Wilderness Press, 1978. (Reprinted in 2006, 5th editions).
• New! Dr. Kevin Curran. Ethnobotanist Web Site, the Southern California Ethnobotany: Historical Use of Native Plants page: http://www.ethnoherbalist.com/southern-california-native-plants-medicinal/