Native Plants and Native People
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Toyon Shaw’s Agave he Native Plants and Native People Trail leads through some of the rarest habitats in the country: the coastal sage scrub and southern maritime chaparral of Southern California. Learn how TNative Americans used the plants here for food, medicine, clothing, shelter, and tools. Humans probably first used these plants more than 10,000 years ago. The Kumeyaay people who lived in this area when the Spanish arrived had long developed a system of practices to carefully manage their environment. Successive groups of Spanish, Mexican, and American settlers later used many of the Coyote Brush Lemonade Berry plants found on the trail for both food and medicine. Today some of these plants continue to be important to San Diego County Native Americans. Three plant communities are found along the trail: coastal sage scrub which has semi-deciduous shrubs such as California sagebrush, buckwheat, and black sage; southern maritime chaparral with its evergreen shrubs like chamise, Del Mar manzanita, and scrub oak; and riparian wetland with tules, rushes, and willows. The coastal sage scrub and southern maritime chaparral communities are adapted to the mild, wet winters and warm, dry summers of our Mediterranean climate. Many of the plants here conserve water with leaves that are small, leathery, needle-like or succulent. Some plants survive with deep root systems or by losing leaves and becoming dormant during the dry season. Many plants are adapted to wildfires, sprouting from stumps after fires or germinating from seed after fires. Animals live here too. Look and listen for lizards, small mammals, and birds such as scrub jays, towhees, black phoebe, and quail. They have all formed ecological relationships with these plant communities, and their survival depends on protecting these habitats. Native Plants and Please do not pick any plant materials or disturb any natural Native People features. Please stay on the trail. No smoking is allowed. Self-Guided Nature Trail The Medicinal Plants Disclaimer: This information is intended as an introduction to the uses of plants for educational purposes only. San Diego Botanic Garden makes no claims as to the medicinal effects of any plants. SDBGarden.org White Sage (Salvia apiana) Pellytaay Mohave Yucca (Yucca schidigera) Mechhaapaa This sage grows in dry sites. It has white blooms This long-lived plant with sharp-pointed leaves has and taller flower stalks than other local sages. Its soft, attractive cream colored flower clusters in late spring. Plants of the Native Plants and Native People Trail aromatic grey leaves were used in cooking and other The long leaf fibers were used by the Kumeyaay to Format is common name, scientific name in parentheses followed by the Kumeyaay name. purposes. It was also used as a ceremonial plant. make sandals, nets, ropes, and brushes. The dried stalks were used as quivers for arrows. Shaw’s Agave (Agave shawii) Ma’alh Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) Epsii Toyon or Christmas Berry This agave is now rare in San Diego, but common in Our Lord’s Candle This evergreen is the most common chaparral shrub. (Heteromeles arbutifolia) Kuuhik coastal northwest Baja. Leaf fibers were used for sandals (Hesperoyucca whipplei) ‘Aakuul Clusters of white flowers bloom in spring and early This common evergreen shrub or tree has small white and ropes. Large plants were roasted and eaten. This yucca grows on dry hillsides and has needle- summer. The wood is very hard and heavy. Chamise is flowers during the summer and bright red berries from sharp leaves. The leaf fibers were used by Native very flammable, but resprouts after fires. The Kumeyaay October to February. The Kumeyaay ate the berries Yerba Santa Americans to make basket bottoms and cradles. The used chamise medicinally, to make shelters and arrow while Spanish and American settlers used them for (Eriodictyon crassifolium var. crassifolium) Pilšat young roasted bloom stalks and flower petals were shafts, and for firewood. making cider. This native scrub grows in coastal sage shrub and eaten in the spring. chaparral. The fragrant leaves were widely used as a Coastal Sagebrush (Artemisia californica) Laurel Sumac or Taco Plant tea for coughs and colds. The woolly gray-green leaves Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) Kusu This is the most common plant of coastal sage scrub (Malosma laurina) Pellychaa can be eaten. Until antibiotics were discovered, it was This leathery-leafed evergreen shrub produces small habitats. To conserve water during the summer it goes This common large evergreen shrub has small, white used as a treatment for tuberculosis. oil-rich nuts, which are used in shampoos. The Kumeyaay dormant and loses many of its leaves. The aromatic flower clusters in early summer. The leaves partially fold ate the seeds raw or ground up to make a coffee-like branches were strewn on the floors of Kumeyaay houses up to conserve moisture. Deer Grass, Basket Grass beverage. Greenish flowers bloom in spring and the to control insects. (Muhlenbergia rigens) Kwayull male and female flowers are on separate plants. California Buckwheat This grass grows in many habitats of the Southwest Black Sage (Salvia mellifera) Pelltaay (Eriogonum fasciculatum) Hamill and northern Mexico. It was very important to Native Orcutt’s Goldenbush (Hazardia orcuttii) This is the most common sage in Southern California. A common shrub of coastal sage scrub habitats, Americans because its strong fibers were used in coiled This rare evergreen shrub grows in only a few Its pale blue flowers bloom from spring to early summer. the attractive white flowers bloom from late spring baskets. locations locally and in Baja. The yellow flowers bloom The aromatic leaves were used to season food. Native through summer. The flowers were used by native from August through October. Americans gathered the seeds to make a nutritious peoples to make a tea to aid digestion and as a cure Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) ‘Esnyaaw mush. for headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea in infants. This is the largest coastal oak and its acorns are Lanceleaf Dudleya (Dudleya lanceolata) important wildlife food. They were used by the Millykumaay Lemonade Berry (Rhus integrifolia) Huusil Arroyo Willow (Salix lasiolepis) Halasii Kumeyaay to make a nutritious mush or cake and to This coastal succulent often grows under shrubs. Willows grow along streams and ponds. Willow was This is a common evergreen shrub in coastal thicken soups. Showy red-orange flower clusters bloom on long stalks an internal remedy for pain, inflammation and fever. California. Attractive clusters of pink to white flowers in early summer. The leaves are edible. The roots were It can also be used as an external wash for sores. The bloom in early spring. The fruit have a lemon-like flavor, Coastal Prickly Pear (Opuntia littoralis) Xapa boiled to treat asthma. which was made into a drink by native peoples and branches were used to make shelters and storage This cactus forms large clumps. The leafless stems early settlers. baskets. store water. The red-tinged yellow flowers bloom in Warty-Stemmed Ceanothus April-May. Kumeyaay ate prickly pear fruits, seeds and (Ceanothus verrucosus) Blue Elderberry Basket Rush (Juncus textilis) Kwa’naay blossoms. The young pads were fried or boiled. Spines (Sambucus nigra ssp. caerulea) Kupall Native Americans in coastal Southern California were used in tattooing. This rare evergreen shrub is found in coastal chaparral. This large deciduous shrub or small tree has clusters of utilized this widespread wetland plant. Its long cylindrical Unlike most ceanothus, which have blue flowers, this species has white flower clusters, which bloom in early white blooms in spring. The berries are eaten by wildlife. stems were peeled into three strips and used to make Bush Monkey Flower (Diplacus aurantiacus) baskets. spring. The Kumeyaay used the leaves and fruit to treat The Kumeyaay also ate the berries. Tea from flowers This shrub of the coastal sage scrub and chaparral was used medicinally for babies. The hollow stems were itching and poison oak rash. The flowers were used as Tule, Bullrush (Scirpus sp.) ‘Esuk has large, orange-red flowers from spring into early soap. used for flutes. summer. The Kumeyaay used the roots in a hot infusion The long stems of this wetland plant were used to treat stomach disorders. Ethnobotanists and the descendants of native peoples Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana) ‘Erpuu to thatch shelters and bundled into small boats. The sometimes disagree on how plants were used. Different tribes This is the rarest pine in the U.S., and is native only to triangular shape of the stems makes a tighter fit than Del Mar Manzanita may have used plants in varying ways. Torrey Pines State Park and to Santa Rosa Island. The round-stemmed plants. (Arctostaphylos glandulosa ssp. crassifolia) Hasill large seeds were an important food of the Kumeyaay Hedges, Ken. 1986. Santa Ysabel Ethnobotany. Scrub Oak (Quercus dumosa) ‘Ehwap This rare federally endangered species grows only San Diego Museum of Man. who ate them dry and roasted. The resin was used on the sandy coastal mesas and bluffs from here down medicinally for head colds and sore throats, for sore This rare evergreen shrub or small tree grows in local Lightner, James. 2011. San Diego County Native Plants, to Baja. This and other species of manzanita produce rd muscles, and as a wound dressing. Pine needles chaparral. The acorns are bitter and so the Kumeyaay fruits important as wildlife foods. They were eaten by San Diego Flora, San Diego, CA, 3 edition. were used to make baskets. Pine pitch was used to preferred to eat the larger, sweeter acorns from black the Kumeyaay fresh or dried. They used the evergreen waterproof baskets. oaks or coast live oaks. Original artwork by David House and Lesley Randall leaves to make a kidney tonic.