Eriogonum jamesii

Eriogonum jamesii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Polygonaceae
Genus:	Eriogonum
Species:	E. jamesii
Binomial name
Eriogonum jamesii Benth.

Eriogonum jamesii is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name James' buckwheat and antelope sage. It is native to the southwestern United States, being found in: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Nebraska.

Uses

The Navajo people have used Eriogonum jamesii as an oral contraceptive.^[1] Among the Zuni people, the root is soaked in water and used as a wash for sore eyes. The fresh or dried root is also eaten for stomachaches.^[2] The root is carried in the mouth for a sore tongue and then buried in a river bottom.^[3] The ground blossom powder is given to ceremonial dancers impersonating anthropic gods to bring rain.^[4]

References

1. archive.org Cherokee Messenger: Native American Herbal Remedies
2. Camazine, Scott and Robert A. Bye 1980 A Study Of The Medical Ethnobotany Of The Zuni Indians of New Mexico. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2:365-388 (p.378)
3. Stevenson, Matilda Coxe 1915 Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #30 (p.50)
4. Stevenson, p.91

External links

• description at the University of Maryland, College Park PlantSystematics.org
• images from Four Corners Wildflowers
• Plants for a Future entry