HerbalEGram: Volume 13, Issue 8, August 2016

Editor's note: This paper has not yet been submitted for peer review.


From El Paso to Beaumont, desert to swamp, Amarillo to Brownsville, prairie to coast, the habitats found in Texas are almost as numerous as the different native and naturalized plant species. With such a rich flora existing within this vast area, there are bound to be many uses, both modern and historical, for some of these species. Three plants stood out as representatives of their respective environments: Southern prickly ash (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, Rutaceae) from the Piney Woods in East Texas to the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas, ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens, Fouquieriaceae) from the Trans-Pecos region to the South Texas plains, and jimson weed (Datura wrightii, Solanaceae) found across much of the state.


Jimson Weed (Datura wrightii)

Datura wrightii, known as jimson weed, angel’s trumpet, sacred thorn-apple, and toloache in Mexico and South Texas, among other common names, is a member of the nightshade family, Solanaceae,¹ which includes many other plants of economic importance, such as potato (Solanum tuberosum), tomato (S. lycopersicum), eggplant (S. melongena), tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum),  and more.² Synonyms for jimson weed include D. inoxia subsp. quinquecuspidata, D. lanosa, and D. metel var. quinquecuspidata.³ It is often confused with other members of the genus Datura, many of which share the common name jimson weed.⁴ Jimson weed is an annual, which flowers and fruits primarily in the summer months from approximately May to November, with a broad range across much of the United States and Mexico, as well as southern Canada.¹ The flowers are large, trumpet-like, fragrant, and white in color with five teeth that taper to the edges of the corolla, and sepals fused at the base of the inflorescence.¹ The fruit matures into a spiny green capsule, with light tan seeds that are  4-5 mm (0.16-0.20 in.) in length.⁵ Simple leaves, some of which are slightly lobed, alternate along the stem.¹ In general, jimson weed thrives in dry, poor soils,¹ and can often be found along roads, in dry river beds, and on disturbed land.⁵

All parts of jimson weed are highly poisonous, whether by ingestion or absorption through mucous membranes, and numerous deaths have resulted from improper consumption, especially among experimenting adolescents.⁶ When death does not occur, the victim can be left with permanent damage to the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, heart, and/or brain.⁶ The toxicity in the plant is due primarily to the alkaloid atropine (which is present in several other members of the family Solanaceae), as well as hyoscine (scopolamine) and hyoscyamine.⁷ These tropane alkaloids cause an anticholinergic effect on the human body (i.e., they block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine) when used inappropriately, which causes symptoms such as dilated pupils; inability to focus one’s vision; flushing and warm feelings; dry skin, nose, and mouth; irregular heartbeat; waste retention; hyper- or hypotension; delirium and hallucinations; uncontrollable twitches and muscular contractions; seizures; respiratory difficulty; coma; and death.⁸ A simple mnemonic describing atropine poisoning is “blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, red as a beet, hot as a hare, dry as a bone, the bowel and bladder lose their tone, and the heart runs alone,” which can be helpful to know in dire situations.⁸

Ethnobotanically, the main users of jimson weed are various Native American tribes. In Texas, of the more than 14 tribes endemic to the area before European colonization, and the five tribes that relocated thereafter, only the Apache had any significant use of the plant.⁹ The minimal documentation of jimson weed's use by Native Americans in Texas, which is not the case further west, may be due to migration, death, and general loss of culture (i.e., the knowledge possessed by the people who once inhabited the area). Currently, there are only three federally recognized tribes in the state: the Alabama-Coushatta in East Texas, the Kickapoo (a semi-migratory tribe that originally settled in northeastern Texas but were pushed out by eastern US immigrants and ended up in Mexico and southwest Texas near what is now Eagle Pass), and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo near El Paso in far West Texas. The other tribes either merged, integrated, died out, or migrated.⁹ However, Datura specimens have been identified in archeological remains in the Lower Pecos region in southwest Texas, and were possibly depicted on the staff of a shamanic figure in Pecos River rock art, indicating that Datura once played a role in the lives of the archaic people who lived in the area 4,000 years ago, and perhaps among the unrecognized tribes in the area.⁵

Largely outside of Texas, other tribes of the west use D. wrightii for medicinal, nutritive, ceremonial, and spiritual purposes, including the Chumash, Cahuilla, Ohlone (Costanoan), Kumeyaay (Diegueño), Nuooah (Kawaiisu), Luiseño, Mahuna, Miwok, Paiute, Shoshone, Tübatulabal, Yokut, and Gabrielino of West Coast, California, Mexico, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert; the White Mountain Apache, Havasupai, Hopi, Western Keres Pueblo, Navajo, Ute, Yavapai, Quechan (Yuma), Zuni, and Tohono O’odham (Papago) of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts.^9-15

In the far west, the Cahuilla of southern California¹³ have a multitude of uses for jimson weed. These include as an analgesic; external antirheumatic; and toothache remedy from the powdered leaves; a paste from the crushed roots and leaves as an antidote for venomous bites; a spiritually-charged hallucinogen that allowed the shamans and medicine men to transcend reality, diagnose aliments, and facilitate a variety of rituals; a poison from the pulverized plant; a hunting medicine to increase vitality; a respiratory aid made of the steamed leaves; a crushed plant-and-water solution made for saddle sores on horses; and a good luck charm, to name a few.^16-17

The Chumash people who dwell in central and southern California¹³ used jimson weed for comparatively few purposes, namely as a hallucinogen, but no longer do so because of its toxicity.^16,18 The Ohlone (Costanoan) of the central coast of California¹³ used it as an analgesic or respiratory medicine derived from a heated leaf poultice, a purgative, hallucinogen, or aphrodisiac from smoked, dried leaves mixed with tobacco, a salve of ground leaves for boils, and an eye wash from the flower dew.¹⁹ The Kumeyaay (Diegueño) of southern California and Mexico¹³ have used it primarily in tea as a ritual hallucinogen for initiation rites and ceremonies.^15-16 The Gabrielino people of southern California¹³ also use Datura for its hallucinogenic properties.¹⁶ The Nuooah (Kawaiisu), who dwell in southern California,¹³ have many uses for it: the mashed roots are used as an analgesic, external antirheumatic, and orthopedic aid, and the plant is generally used as an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, a poison, and as a ceremonial tool and hallucinogen.²⁰

The Luiseño, who hail from southern California,¹³ use the plant exclusively for its hallucinogenic properties, especially during a male puberty ceremony.^16,21 The Mahuna, also of southern California,¹³ have used jimson weed leaves as a smoked narcotic, as well as a poison, and an antivenin for tarantula and snake bites.²² The Miwok, a tribe local to northern California,¹⁴ take a decoction of the roots as a hallucinogen.²³ The Paiute of Nevada and California¹⁴ use a decoction of the root for blood poisoning in the feet; seeds or a decoction of the ground, soaked roots as a hallucinogen, especially to commune with the dead; seeds eaten as a good luck charm; decoctions to find lost objects and determine one’s lifespan; and as a poison.^15,24-25 The Shoshone, a people primarily of the Great Basin region,¹⁴ but some roaming as far as Texas, use only the root as a hallucinogen to promote visions.¹⁵

The Tübatulabal of southern California¹³ is one of the few tribes that does not use jimson weed for its hallucinogenic properties. Instead, they make use of its medicinal properties in an internal antirheumatic infusion, as an anti-inflammatory poultice of the dried, pounded root for sores and wounds, for decreasing bloat and constipation, and a cold infusion with a sedative effect.²⁶ The Ute people, dwelling in the Great Basin region,¹⁴ use the plant only as a narcotic.²⁷ The Yokut, residing in central California¹³, also had no entheogenic uses for this plant, instead using a decoction of the roots as a narcotic, gastrointestinal inflammation reducer, and cure-all for many other diseases.²⁸

Further east, the White Mountain Apache, dwelling in eastern Arizona,^10,11 use the plant juice or ground flowers and roots as a disinfectant, as well as the powdered roots as a ceremonial herb, and the juice and powdered roots as an intoxicating beverage.¹⁵ The Havasupai people of northern Arizona in the Grand Canyon,¹⁰ also use the aerial parts as an intoxicant, as well as relief for the bite of a red ant in the form of folded leaves pressed on the affected surface.²⁹ The Hopi, a Puebloan tribe from northeastern Arizona,¹⁰ use the plant for several purposes, including the roots and other parts as a hallucinogen and a narcotic, a poison, a stimulant, and psychological aid to cure “meanness.”³⁰ The Keres peoples, specifically those in New Mexico,¹⁰ have used this plant primarily as a medicine, such as for boils, but also a poison, as well as a tobacco substitute.³¹

The Navajo, residing in northern Arizona and New Mexico,¹⁰ have many uses for jimson weed. These include a leaf infusion as a wash for newly castrated sheep, a cold floral infusion as an eyewash for blind horses and a lotion for saddle sores, dried fruits used as food after boiling or being ground, a hallucinogen and ceremonial medicine derived from the seeds and roots, an analgesic from a cold root infusion, a smoke used to tame deer, and a witchcraft medicine.^15,32-34 The Tohono O’odham of the Sonoran Desert in eastern Arizona and northern Mexico¹⁰ have used this plant only as a beverage infused with the ground roots.²⁷ The Yavapai also have few uses for this species, only consuming a decoction of the leaves to allow for a successful deer hunt.³⁵ The Quechan people of Arizona and California^10,13 also have few uses for this plant, using it only as a narcotic substance.²⁷ The Zuni are a people of New Mexico¹⁰ with many diverse uses for the plant. Some of these include using the powdered root as an anesthetic and narcotic, a poultice of the roots and flowers to promote healing, and the powdered root for ceremonial purposes involving rain priests.³⁶ They also use the species as firewood.

Other species of Datura have made their way into several niche cultures outside the United States. As toloache in Mexico, members of the genus are used in folk medicinal traditions as an aphrodisiac and sedative, and to mitigate pain resulting from childbirth.³⁷ After being introduced to Europe, they were used for anti-inflammatory purposes there.³⁷ Members of the genus Datura are also used in Asian herbal medicines, primarily D. metel in Indian Ayurvedic, Unani, and Santal traditional medicine systems.³⁷ Additionally, D. stramonium, due to its antispasmodic effects, was an ingredient in a number of asthma preparations (notably Potter’s Asthma Cigarettes and Schiffmann’s Asthmador Cigarettes) which were available on the US market until the 1990s.³⁸


Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens)

Fouquieria splendens, known commonly as ocotillo, candlewood, Jacob’s staff, coachwhip, or vine cactus, is one of several members of the genus Fouquieria in the small family Fouquieriaceae.^38-40 The genus is named for Pierre Edouard Fouquier, a Parisian naturalist and professor of medicine, who was a friend and mentor to a significant author of the genus, C.S. Kunth.⁴¹ The plant is often thought to be a cactus due to its thorns, succulent nature, and shared habitat, but is in fact in a separate family.³⁹ It has a native range from West Texas to California and into Mexico, but thrives primarily in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, as well as the Mojave Desert to some extent.⁴² As a desert species, it can be found on rocky hillsides, in dry gullies, or on flats.³⁹ Ocotillo is a tall, spiny shrub that lacks a trunk, but instead has multiple, slender, grooved stems. It is a naturally deciduous perennial, but is leafless for much of the year to conserve water. When the leaves are present, they are leathery, simple, and oblong in shape, appearing in dense clusters averaging between two and four above each spine. The flowers appear before the leaves, and are vermillion, tubular, ½-1 inch long, with approximately 10-19 stamens, and five sepals. The fruit is a small, 1/4-to-1/3-inch-long capsule, oval in shape, and similar in color to the blooms, filled with many small, flat, winged seeds.³⁹

Chemically, ocotillo appears to have significant quantities of leucocyanidin and ellagic acid in the bark and leaves,⁴³ in addition to lesser amounts of iridoid glucosides such as adoxoside,⁴⁴ as well as ocotillol, fouquierol,⁴⁵ the flavonols kaempherol and quercetin, cinnamic acid, p-coumaric, caffeic, and ferulic acids, as well as coumarin, scopoletin, and asperocotillin.⁴³ Additional studies also identified the presence of cyanogenic glycosides, tannins, and salicylic acid.⁴⁶ The inflorescence has been found to contain tetraeicosane, eicosane, sitosterol, quercetin, hyacinthin, and pentaacetate.^47-48 It is likely that at least some of these secondary metabolites are the reasons for the nutritive and medicinal uses of the plant by various peoples.

Many people dwelling in West Texas and across the entire American Southwest and northern Mexico use ocotillo for a variety of things. Notably, ocotillo has been and is still used today as a modern fence-building material, living or dried, in Texas, Mexico, and into New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California.⁴¹ The stems are cut, and placed vertically in the ground, and tied together with wire to create a fence that will grow on its own.⁴¹ Alternatively, one might secure branches horizontally between posts to create a sturdy enclosure,¹⁷ as the Cocopah people of Baja California do.¹³ It also is used to build fences by the Cahuilla¹³ in order to keep pests away from crops.¹⁶ Either way, F. splendens makes for a viable natural alternative to a barbed wire fence.⁴¹ Additionally, ocotillo has been used by Anglo and Hispanic settlers in west Texas, northern Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico as a base material under adobe, to build thatched dwellings called jacales.⁴⁰ These buildings are believed to have been derived from the pit houses of the Jumano, a Puebloan-like tribe who once lived in the Rio Grande river basin.⁴¹ Many people today also collect the dried stem husks to craft different novelties, such as walking sticks.⁴⁹

Other tribes who build dwellings and various other structures with ocotillo, include the Hualapai of northwestern Arizona,^10,50 the Tohono O'odham and Akimel O’odham (previously the Papago and Pima, respectively) of the Sonoran Desert,^10,27,51 and the Seri, also of the Sonoran Desert.^10,15 The Hualapai use the stems to construct huts.⁵⁰ The Tohono O’odham use ocotillo specifically for home building, weaving the stems together to make frames, and bending them to make a dome for the roof, as well as to build ceremonial structures representing clouds or mountains.²⁷ The Akimel O’odham strip the stalks of thorns, and craft shelves bound together with rawhide or wire.⁵¹ The Seri lash branches together and raise them as sun or wind shelters.¹⁵ There is also appeal, both historical and modern, in using the plant as decoration or for landscaping purposes.⁴¹

Construction is not the only use for ocotillo. In Texas, the Apache, namely the Lipan, Mescalero, and Jicarilla, use the plant to relieve fatigue by bathing in a decoction of the roots and apply a dry root powder to wounds and swellings.⁴⁹ The Apache use it in a similar fashion.⁴⁹ Likewise, the Hualapai also use the roots in a bath for swollen feet.⁵⁰ The Cahuilla consume it, soaking the fresh blossoms in water to make a sweet and tangy beverage or a tea for coughs, or grinding the dried seeds into flour to make mush or cakes.^16,41 The Mahuna¹³ use the plant as a “blood purifier” and tonic.²² The Tohono O’odham press the blossoms, let the nectar that is expelled crystallize like hard candy, and eat it as a treat.²⁷ The Yavapai of central Arizona¹⁰ suck the flowers for the nectar.³⁵ Tribal peoples have other uses besides nutritive and medicinal, as well. The Cahuilla use the wood as tinder and fuel, as it burns hotter than other plants due to its resin content.⁴¹ The Tohono O’odham remove the sharp thorns from the stems and use them to pierce their ears.²⁷

Ocotillo is used today throughout its range in Mexico, including in folk medicine.⁴¹ The flowers and seeds are consumed in rural areas and brewed into a tea for coughs, as the Cahuilla do. It also is used to treat sore throat and late menstruation, and a tincture from the stems is used for lymph circulation, pelvic congestion, bladder infections, and tonsillitis.⁴¹ Other miscellaneous uses include as a leather varnish and as fuel.^41,49


Southern Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis)

Zanthoxylum clava-herculis (also spelled Xanthoxylum), whose common names include Southern prickly ash, toothache tree, Texas prickly ash, pepperwood, and Hercules’club, is a member of the family Rutaceae, which includes a number of other economically important species, including the genera Citrus and Fortunella.^39,52 It is often confused with the closely-related Zanthoxylum americanum, whose range covers north-central and northeastern United States and Canada, and which tends to be smaller in stature with slightly smaller leaflets.³⁹ However, Z. americanum and Z. clava-herculis have very similar chemical constituents.⁵³

Southern prickly ash has a range from Texas north through Arkansas and Oklahoma, along the Gulf Coast to Florida, and stretching along the eastern coastline as far north as Virginia.³⁹ Southern prickly ash is a small tree, no taller than 25 to 30 feet, with a diameter of 6 inches, and with blunt, grey, corky spikes along the trunk and branches; hence the species name clava-herculis, meaning "Hercules’ club."³⁹ The genus name Zanthoxylum is derived from the Greek xanthos, meaning "yellow," and xylum, meaning "wood," so named for the plant’s yellow wood.³⁹ The leaves are pinnately compound and alternately arranged along the branch, reaching 5-15 inches in length, with a leathery exterior and hairy petioles.³⁹ The flowers are a white to pale green situated in large terminal cymes.³⁹ Each bloom has approximately 4-5 petals that are 1/8-1/4 inches long, with 4-5 slender stamens that grow longer than the corolla, 2-3 pistils, and a calyx of around 4-5 sepals.³⁹ The fruit is small and round, 1/6-1/4 inch in length, brownish to black with pits and wrinkles across the surface.³⁹

The chemical constituents of southern prickly ash and related species have the potential to be of great economic and medicinal importance to people, both as a crude drug and a refined product. A few bioactive compounds from the plant include herculin and neoherculin from the bark (insecticidal), berberine and chelerythrine alkaloids from the bark and roots (antibacterial), and N-acetylanonaine from the bark (ichthyotoxic), cnidilin, imperatorin, isoimperatorin, psoralen, xanthotoxin,⁵⁷ dipetaline, alloxanthoxyletin, xanthoxyletin, xanthyletin, asarinin, and sesamin from the fruits and bark (cytotoxic to human cancer cells), as well as a few other assorted chemicals like O-prenylpiperitol, O-prenylxanthoxyl, and xanthoxylin, all from the bark and roots.^54-56,58 The neoherculin in the plant is also the alkylamide responsible for producing a localized numbing effect.⁵³ Additionally, as a member of the family Rutaceae, the essential oil from the leaf contains a variety of volatile compounds similar to those found in Citrus.⁵⁸ These include limonene, 1,8-cineole, α-thujene, linalool, γ-terpinene, and α-terpineol, among others.

Uses for southern prickly ash are numerous. Among the various tribes whose range extends into Texas, there have been no recorded uses of this species in particular, but rather its close relative Z. americanum.¹⁵ The Alabama, Cherokee, and Comanche all have uses for Z. americanum, despite the fact that they lived in Texas, where this species is not endemic. This is because the Alabama and the Cherokee were forcibly relocated to Texas in the 1800s, from their native lands in the southeastern and eastern United States where they utilized Z. americanum.^9,12 The Comanche had a broad territory, stretching from Texas to Kansas, so those who lived in the northern reaches of their lands would have had access to Z. americanum.^9,11 However, because Z. clava-herculis and Z. americanum are nearly identical chemically, they could be used interchangeably.⁵³ The Alabama had several uses for Zanthoxylum, namely an infusion of the inner bark applied to itchy areas, and the pounded inner bark placed into a cavity for toothache.^59-60 The Cherokee made it into an infusion that they used as an external antirheumatic wash for swollen joints.⁶¹ The Comanche have many uses for the plant, including a topical burn medicine from the pulverized and powdered roots, an infusion of the bark or pulverized roots taken for a fever, a sore throat soother made from the inner bark, and the root bark or entire pulverized root placed on an affected tooth for toothache.¹⁵

In addition to these Texas tribes, the Houma of Louisiana on the eastern side of the Red River have uses for southern prickly ash.^12,62 They have used a salve of the grated root on swollen limbs, as well as a poultice of the grated root and bark for toothache.⁶² Among settlers, it was used as a substitute for pepper on food.⁶³ It also was used as a general cure for rheumatism, dyspepsia, dysentery, kidney troubles, and as a circulatory stimulant.⁵³ Currently, scientists are researching the chemical compounds derived from southern prickly ash and related species for their possible use in modern medicine. There is potential for an extract of southern prickly ash, containing the antimicrobial alkaloid chelerythrine as the active constituent, to be used in treating multi-drug resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (mdr-MRSA), an antibiotic resistant strain of bacteria.⁶⁴ There are also studies confirming the efficacy of several furanocoumarins (cnidilin, imperatorin, isoimperatorin, psoralen, and xanthotoxin) extracted from the berries and their cytotoxic effects in human cancer cells in vitro, as well as studies on several other pyranocoumarins (dipetaline, alloxanthoxyletin, xanthoxyletin, and xanthyletin) and lignans (asarinin, and sesamin) in inhibiting the growth of human leukemia (HL-60) cells.^54,57


Conclusion

Ethnobotanist Daniel Moerman’s Native American Ethnobotany database lists uses for more than 4000 species of plants by approximately 300 Native American tribes.⁶⁶ This article addresses the food, medicinal, economic, and ceremonial uses of only three of these plants by more than 30 Native American tribes in Texas and the Southwest, as well as by Anglo and Hispanic settlers. These uses varied as widely as the ecosystems in which the plants thrive. While the contemporary use of one, D. wrightii, is restricted by its toxicity, the historical uses are still of interest to historians, ethnobotanists, herbalists, and perhaps even the general public. The other two may be interesting for more than their ethnobotanical use alone. Fouquieria splendens, while limited by its small habitat range, and Z. clava-herculis, with its wider habitat, each have numerous chemical components that perhaps warrant further study for modern medicinal usage.


Chlöe Fackler is an undergraduate student at McGill University in Montréal, Québec, Canada, where she is studying environmental biology (plant biology) and anthropology. She is a native of Austin, Texas, and is interested in ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, silversmithing, the visual arts, archery, cooking, and science fiction. She plans to complete her own ethnobotanical research and continue learning all she can about plants.


References

1. Native Plant Information Network (NPIN). Datura Wrightii. Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Database website. December 15, 2015. Available at: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=DAWR2. Accessed June 22, 2016.
2. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Solanaceae. USDA website. Available at: http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid=Solanaceae. Accessed June 22, 2016.
3. Datura wrightii. The Plant List Version 1.1. 2013. Available at: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2757870. Accessed June 23, 2016.
4. Fosberg FR. Nomenclatural notes on Datura L. Taxon. 1959;8(2):52-57.
5. Boyd CE, Dering JP. Medicinal and hallucinogenic plants identified in the sediments and pictographs of the Lower Pecos, Texas Archaic. Antiquity. 1996;268(70):256-275.
6. Schalau J. Backyard Gardener – Sacred Datura. Agriculture and Natural Resources Arizona Cooperative Extension website. December 5, 2001. Available at: https://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/sacreddatura.html. Accessed June 23, 2016.
7. Bye R, Mata R, Pimentel J. Botany, ethnobotany and chemistry of Datura lanosa (Solanaceae) in Mexico. Anales Inst Biol. Univ. Nac. Autón. México, Ser. Bot. 1991;61(1):21-42. Available at: http://www.ejournal.unam.mx/bot/061-01/BOT61104.pdf. Accessed June 23, 2016.
8. Arnett AM. Jimson Weed (Datura stramonium) Poisoning. Erowid. December 1995. Available at: https://www.erowid.org/plants/datura/datura_info5.shtml. Accessed June 23, 2016.
9. Native Languages of the Americas. Native American Tribes of Texas. Native Languages of the Americas website. 1998. Available at: http://www.native-languages.org/texas.htm. Accessed June 23, 2016.
10. Native Languages of the Americas. Indian Tribes and Languages of the Southwest. Native Languages of the Americas website. Available at: http://www.native-languages.org/southwest-culture.htm. Accessed June 23, 2016.
11. Native Languages of the Americas. Indian Tribes and Languages of the Great Plains. Native Languages of the Americas website. Available at: http://www.native-languages.org/plains-culture.htm. Accessed June 23, 2016.
12. Native Languages of the Americas. Indian Tribes and Languages of the Southeast. Native Languages of the Americas website. Available at: http://www.native-languages.org/southeast-culture.htm. Accessed June 23, 2016.
13. Native Languages of the Americas. Indian Tribes and Languages of the California Culture Area. Native Languages of the Americas website. 1998. Available at: http://www.native-languages.org/california-culture.htm. Accessed June 23, 2016.
14. Native Languages of the Americas. Indian Tribes and Languages of the Great Basin. Native Languages of the Americas website. Available at: http://www.native-languages.org/basin-culture.htm. Accessed June 23, 2016.
15. Moerman DE. Native American Ethnobotany. Portland, OR: Timber Press; 1998.
16. Bean LJ, Saubel KS. Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Banning, CA: Malki Museum Press; 1972.
17. Barrows DP. The Ethnobotany of the Coahuilla Indians of Southern California. Banning, CA: Malki Museum Press; 1967.
18. Timbrook J. Virtuous herbs: plants in Chumash medicine. Ethnobiol. 1987;7(2):171-180.
19. Bocek BR. Ethnobotany of the Costanoan Indians, California, based on collections by John P. Harrington. Econ Bot. 1984;38(2):240-255.
20. Zigmond ML. Kawaiisu Ethnobotany. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press; 1981.
21. Sparkman PS. The culture of the Luiseno Indians. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology. 1908;8(4):187-234.
22. Romero JB. The Botanical Lore of the California Indians. New York, NY: Vantage Press. 1954.
23. Barrett SA, Gifford EW. Miwok material culture: Indian life of the Yosemite region. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee. 1933;2(4):11.
24. Steward JH. Ethnography of the Owens Valley Paiute. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology. 1933;33(3):233-250.
25. Fowler CS, Willards Z. Park’s Ethnographic Notes on the Northern Paiute of Western Nevada 1933-1940. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press; 1989.
26. Voegelin EW. Tubatulabal Ethnography. Anthropological Records. 1938;2(1):1-84.
27. Castetter EF, Underhill RM. Ethnobiological studies in the American Southwest II: the ethnobiology of the Papago Indians. University of New Mexico Bulletin. 1935;4(3):1-84.
28. Hart MC. Ethnographic Notes on California Indian Tribes. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 1967.
29. Weber SA, Seaman PD. Havasupai Habitat: A. F. Whiting’s Ethnography of a Traditional Indian Culture. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press; 1985.
30. Colton HS. Hopi History and Ethnobotany. New York, NY: Garland; 1974.
31. Swank GR. The Ethnobotany of the Acoma and Laguna Indians [master’s thesis]. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press; 1932.
32. Castetter EF. Ethnobiological studies in the American Southwest: uncultivated native plants used as sources of food. University of New Mexico Bulletin. 1935;4(1):1-44.
33. Elmore FH. Ethnobotany of the Navajo. Santa Fe, NM: University of New Mexico Press; 1944.
34. Wyman LC, Stuart KH. The Ethnobotany of the Kanyenta Navajo. Albuquerque, NM: The University of New Mexico Press; 1951.
35. Gifford EW. Northeastern and Western Yavapai. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology. 1936;34:247-345.
36. Stevenson MC. Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. Washington DC: Bureau of American Ethnology; 1915.
37. Rätsch C. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and its Applications. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press; 2005
38. Jackson M. “Divine stramonium”: the rise and fall of smoking for asthma. Medical History. April 2010;54(2):171-194.
39. Fouquieria splendens. The Plant List Version 1.1. 2013. Available at: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2813831. Accessed June 27, 2016.
40. Vines RA. Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southwest. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press; 1960.
41. Hicks S. Desert Plants and People. San Antonio, TX: The Naylor Company; 1971.
42. Turner MW. Remarkable Plants of Texas: Uncommon Accounts of our Common Natives. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press; 2009.
43. Kartesz JT. BONAP’s North American Plant Atlas. The Biota of North America Program. December 15, 2014. Available at: http://bonap.net/NAPA/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Fouquieria. Accessed June 27, 2016
44. Bate-Smith EC. Chemistry and taxonomy of Fouquieria splendens Engelmn: a new member of the Asperuloside group. Phytochemistry. 1964;3:623-625.
45. Jensen SR, Nielsen BJ. Iridoid glucosides in Fouquieriaceae. Phytochemistry. 1982;21(7):1623-1629.
46. Warnhoff EW, Halls CMM. Desert plant constituents: II Ocotillol: an intermediate in the oxidation of hydroxy isoöctenyl side chains. Can J Chem. 1965;43(12):3311-3321.
47. Wisdom CS, Gonzales-Coloma A, Rundel PW. Phytochemical constituents in a Sonoran Desert plant community. In: Provenza FD, Flinders JT, McArthur ED. Proceedings-Symposium on Plant-Herbivore Interactions. Snowbird, UT; August 7-9, 1985. Ogden, UT: Intermountain Research Station; 1985.
48. Domínguez XA, Velasquez JO, Guerra D. Extractives from the flowers of Fouquieria splendens. Phytochemistry. 1972;11:2888.
49. Scogin R. Anthocyanins of Fouquieriaceae. Biochem Syst Ecol. 1977;5:265-267.
50. Krochmal A, Paur S, Duisberg P. Useful native plants in the American southwestern deserts. Econ Bot. 1954;8(1):3-20.
51. Watahomigie LJ. Hualapai Ethnobotany. Peach Springs, AZ: Hualapai Bilingual Program, Peach Springs School District; 1982.
52. Curtin LSM. By the Prophecy of the Earth. Santa Fe, NM: San Vicente Foundation; 1949.
53. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Rutaceae. USDA website. Available at: https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid=Rutaceae. Accessed June 28, 2016.
54. Foster S, Duke JA. Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2014.
55. Ju Y, Still CC, Sacalis JN, Li J, Ho CT. Cytotoxic coumarins and lignans from extracts of the northern prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum). Phytother Res. 2001;15:441-443.
56. Duke JA. Zanthoxylum clava-herculis (Rutaceae). Dr. Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. Available at: https://phytochem.nal.usda.gov/phytochem/plants/show/2126?et=. Accessed June 29, 2016.
57. Duke JA. Zanthoxylum americanum (Rutaceae). Dr. Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. Available at: https://phytochem.nal.usda.gov/phytochem/plants/show/2125?et=. Accessed June 29, 2016.
58. Saqib QN, Hui YH, Anderson JE, McLaughlin JL. Bioactive furanocoumarins from the berries of Zanthoxylum americanum. Phytother Res. 1990;4(6):216-219.
59. Eiter LC, Fafamiro H, Setzer WN. Seasonal variation in the leaf essential oil composition of Zanthoxylum clava-herculis growing in Huntsville, Alabama. Nat Prod Commun. 2010;5(3):457-460.
60. Swanton JR. Religious Beliefs and Medical Practices of the Creek Indians. In: Fewkes JW. Forty-Second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1924-1925. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; 1928.
61. Taylor LA. Plants Used as Curatives by Certain Southeastern Tribes. Cambridge, MA: Botanical Museum of Harvard University; 1940.
62. Hamel PB, Chiltoskey MU. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses: A 400 Year History. Sylva, NC: Herald Publishing Company; 1975.
63. Speck FG. A list of plant curatives obtained from the Houma Indians of Louisiana. Primitive Man. 1941;14(4):49-75.
64. Coon N. The Dictionary of Useful Plants. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Books; 1978.
65. Gibbons S, Leimkeugel J, Oluwatuyi M, Heinrich M. Activity of Zanthoxylum clava-herculis extracts against multi-drug resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (mdr-MRSA). Phytother Res. 2003;17:274-275.
66. Moerman D. Native American Ethnobotany Database. Botanical Research Institute of Texas website. Available at: http://naeb.brit.org/. Accessed August 2, 2016.