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| ## Indian hemp {#indian-hemp .Title-Header}                           |
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| *Apocynum cannabinum* L.                                              |
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| Plant Symbol = APCA                                                   |
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#### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center*

# Alternate Names

Dogbane, milkweed, honeybloom, bitter root, black hemp, hemp dogbane,
lechuguilla, westernwall

# Uses

[*Warning* **- Indian hemp can be toxic if ingested without proper
preparation.**]{.underline}

*Ethnobotanic*: Indian hemp is harvested for fiber. The stems are cut in
the fall; they are then split open and the long, silky fibers removed.
The fibers are then twisted into string, which provides cordage. String,
thread, rope, baskets, snares, netting, and clothing were made from the
bast fibers of the Indian hemp plant because they are so silky yet
strong. Cordage was then used to make tump straps, belts, netted bags,
hairnets, and ceremonial regalia (capes, skirts, and head-dresses).

The fiber was particularly useful in making fishing and carrying nets,
for string and for ropes, and to some extent for weaving rough cloth. In
California, Indian hemp and milkweed are used somewhat interchangeably
for cordage. The Luiseño of southern California for their dance regalia
used Indian hemp; the golden eagle or other feathers are tied to netting
for the dance skirt for men (Merriam 1955). The wild hemp was also used
by the Chemeweve for snares for otter and rabbits (Ibid.)
![](media/image2.png){width="2.154166666666667in"
height="3.642361111111111in"}

Dogbane is very important to tribes in the Columbia Plateau in
Washington, Oregon, and Idaho for basketry. The Quinalt, Kalispel, Nez
Perce, Spokane, Umatilla, Wasco, Wishram, Yakima, and Klikitat used
dogbane for cordage and basketry.

Families use the native twine to tie together the frames for their
winter lodges. They used it to sew cattails and tules into sturdy mats
to cover these frames and to serve as carpeting, furniture, beds, and
utensils. Dip nets, set nets, and seines were made of dogbane. The nets
were strong enough to hold the giant sturgeon caught in the Columbia
River.

Of all the important uses for Indian hemp, the *itatamat* , or
\"counting the days\" ball, was perhaps the most significant for the
people themselves. From the time of her marriage, a woman would record a
calendar of her life\'s events by tying knots on a length of hemp as
important events occurred. She marked births, deaths, and other
extraordinary days with beads, shells or other talismans. When the ball
got too large to handle easily, she started a new ball.

Flat twined bags (\"sally bags\"), round twined bags and basketry caps
were made with dogbane. Soft bags were made using twine from Indian hemp
or milkweed decorated with cornhusk imbrication. Basket bottoms and top
margins were of woven cedar bark. These soft bags conform to the shape
of a load of roots of camas or other plants.

Later explorers reported that the Nez Perce and other tribes stored
berries, roots, and nuts in bags about one by two feet, and used larger
bags up to three feet long for clothing and other personal effects.
Early visitor to the Mid-Columbia also described piles of filled bags in
the corners or hung along the wall in native homes. One weaver estimated
that it took two to three months to twine a large root-storage bag.

As a medium of trade, barter, or wager, the bags in the early days were
considered only the wrapping or container for the dried roots they held.
The largest of the bags would hold just under a half-bushel or nearly
four dry gallons of camas or bitterroot bulbs. Now, the bags themselves
are highly valued as trade items. The flat twined bags have been widely
traded to other tribes, such as the Crow and Blackfeet of Montana.

Today, the *wapanii sapk\'ukt*, or \"twined handbag,\" is the most
popular form of flat twined bags. It is carried with great pride as part
of ceremonial regalia, the twined handbag emphasizing the distinct
cultural heritage of the person who carries it. Today, cotton twine
usually replaces Indian hemp in basketry; however, very special
ceremonial bags are still made with Indian hemp.

The biochemical constituents in Indian hemp are apocynin, apocynamarin,
cymarin, and and rosin. Indian hemp could be dried, crushed, and then
snuffed for coughs in head colds. The root was made into a tea and was
used to help a baby's cold, earache, headache, nervousness, dizziness,
worms and insanity. This tea was also taken for heart palpitations, but
care should be observed if using it for cardiac disorders. It acts as a
vaso-constrictor, slows and strengthens the heartbeat, and raises blood
pressure. The root could also be used as an emetic, diaphoretic,
antispasmodic, cathartic, anodyne, hypnotic, laxative, treats vomiting,
diarrhea, hydrocephalus, urinary difficulties, dropsy, jaundice, liver
problems, and stimulates the digestive system. It has been successfully
employed for alcoholism. A wash made of crushed root can be shampooed
into the hair to stimulate growth, remove dandruff and head lice. The
milky juice can remove warts. A poultice of the leaves reduces tumors,
hemorrhoids, and inflammation of the testicles. The poultice placed over
the eyelids works on opthalmia and eye diseases. The leaves ground into
powder can dress wounds, sores and ulcers.

*Erosion Control*: The extensive root system on Indian hemp provides
good slope and streambank stabilization and erosion control functions.
The flowers are attractive to bees, butterflies, and other insects. The
plant itself is toxic; so many forms of wildlife do not eat it. Indian
hemp is considered a noxious weed because of its invasive nature and its
toxicity to domestic livestock.

*Invasive Potential*: This plant can be invasive in orchards and
cultivated areas, so is not a garden plant. The small, inconspicuous
flowers and weedy growth form doesn\'t have horticultural appeal.

# Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status and wetland indicator values.

# Description

*General*: Dogbane Family (Apocynaceae). The plant stem can be 0.61-1.83
m (2-6 feet) tall, and contains milky juice. The elliptical leaves are
small, about 5.0-7.6 cm (2-3 inches) long, and opposite. The flowers are
small and inconspicuous, cylindric to urn-shaped, and greenish pink. The
fruit is 6 - 9 cm (2.4-3.5 cm) long and pendant, slender and cylindric.
When the fruit matures and splits open, the seeds are wind dispersed
with long tufts of silky hairs.

# Distribution

For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this
species on the PLANTS Web site. Indian hemp or dogbane proliferates in
moist places near riparian areas along streams, springs, levees,
roadsides, and waste places. This well-known source of fibers is found
in damp places, below 5,000 feet altitude through most of California,
even here and there in the deserts. Indian hemp grows throughout
California north to British Colombia and east across the United States.

Indian hemp is found near the borders of woods, along paths, in
clearings, or in disturbed, waste places like ditches. It is no longer
very common in California, and many traditional gathering sites are
gone.

# Establishment

Indian hemp plants are not widely available. Transplanting bare
rootstock or collecting seed for direct reseeding into the ground will
be necessary in most areas. Use of plants which have been traditionally
used by the ancestors of that place, and which are adapted to the
climate, soils, and site conditions of that place, is optimum.

*Seed Collections*: Collect seeds after pods have ripened, but before
they have split open. This usually occurs in late summer, from August to
September. The seeds are wind dispersed, so be careful when gathering to
place them in a paper or burlap bag to avoid losing them.

Seeds can be directly sown into the ground in the fall. The seed is very
viable. Planting seed the first fall after collecting seeds maximizes
revegetation success. It is not certain how long you can store the
seeds. Irrigation the first summer after planting will improve plant
survival. Once root are established, extra watering will be unnecessary.
Indian hemp is fairly aggressive, and will usually out-compete other
plant species on its own. The latex in stems and leaves protects the
plant from most herbivores.

*Live Plant Collections*: Plants can be divided almost any time of year,
but revegetation is most successful in fall after the plants senesce.
Harvest and planting of Indian hemp is optimum in October, or just after
the first fall rains. Stalks should be cut to a conveniently manageable
length before digging up plants (approximately 25 to 35 cm).

No more than 1/4 of the plants in an area should be collected; a depth
of 15 cm (6 in) is sufficiently deep for digging plugs. This will leave
enough plants and roots to grow back during the following growing
season.

Live transplants should be planted as soon as possible. Plants should be
transported and stored in a cool location prior to planting. Plugs may
be split into smaller units, generally no smaller than 6 x 6 cm (2.4 x
2.4 in) with healthy roots and tops. Weeds in the plugs should be
removed by hand. For ease in transport, soil may be washed gently from
roots. The roots should always remain moist or in water until planted.
Roots should be kept moist after the plants have been dug up. Planting
should occur at a spacing of approximately one-foot centers. Plants
should be watered in. Irrigation may be necessary through the first dry
season. By the second year, roots should have extended to the water
table and irrigation should no longer be necessary.

# Management

When used for fiber, Indian hemp is collected in the autumn after the
leaves have begun to senesce or dry up and the stalks turn a deep
reddish brown color. Plants are cut at the base of the stem. Cutting the
plants appears to stimulate new growth in the spring; so as many stalks
as possible are cut. Plants are then split open and the fibers removed
and processed into cordage. After winter, the fibers have disintegrated
and the stems are still standing, but full of mush or empty. The fibers
can\'t be removed after one winter.

There are only two known large sites for traditional harvest of Indian
hemp for fiber in California; one at Yosemite and one near Santa Rosa.
In the Columbia Basin, though Indian hemp might be found in many
low-lying areas, certain stands of hemp grew higher and straighter, and
the long strands produced were prized for the strength of the twine made
from them. So special was this resource area that violent conflict
(otherwise uncommon) occurred between Wanapam Sahaptins and Columbia
Salish over access to the hemp (Relander 1956)

Vast quantities of fiber plants are required for nets, regalia, and
cordage. Blackburn and Anderson (1993) quote Craig Bates of the Yosemite
Museum that it takes approximately five stalks of milkweed or Indian
hemp to manufacture one foot of cordage. A Sierra Miwok feather skirt or
cape contain about 100 feet of cordage made from approximately 500 plant
stalks, while a deer net 40 feet in length (Barrett and Gifford
1933:178) contained some 7,000 feet of cordage, which would have
required the harvesting of a staggering 35,000 plant stalks. Therefore,
propagation and conservation of this species for fiber is very important
for production of traditionally manufactured cordage, which is still
used today.

Both milkweed and dogbane are burned in the fall to eliminate dead
stalks and stimulate new growth. Burning causes new growth to have
taller, straighter stems (with longer fibers). It also stimulates flower
and seed production.

# Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

APCA is available from native plant nurseries within its range.

# References

Ackerman, L.A. 1995. *A song to the creator*. Traditional Arts of Native
American Women of the Plateau. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman and
London.

Balls, E.K. 1962. *Early uses of California plants*. University of
California Press, Berkeley, California. 103 pp.

Blackburn, T.C. & K. Anderson 1993. *Before the wilderness.
Environmental management by Native Californians*. A Ballena Press
Publication. Menlo Park, California. 476 pp.

Dunmire, W.W. & G.D. Tierney 1997. *Wild plants and native peoples of
the Four Corners*. Museum of New Mexico Press. 312 pp.

Gilmore, M.R. 1977. *Uses of plants by the Indians of the Missouri River
region*. University of Nebraska Press. 125 pp.

Gunther, E. 1945 rev. 1973. *Ethnobotany of Western Washington*.
University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, 10(1). University
of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington.

Hickman, J.C. (ed.) 1993. *The Jepson manual. Higher plants of
California*. University of California Press. 1399 pp.

Hunn, E.S. 1990. *Nch\'i-Wana. \"The Big River.\"* Mid-Columbia Indians
and Their Land. University of Washington Press, Seattle and London. 378
pp.

Kindscher, K. 1992. *Medicinal Wild Plants of the Prairie*. An
Ethnobotanical Guide. University Press of Kansas. 340 pp.

Kuhnlein, H.V. & N.J. Turner 1991. *Traditional plant foods of Canadian
indigenous peoples. Nutrition, botany and use*. Gordon and Breach
Science Publishers. 633 pp.

Merriam, C.H. 1955. *Studies of California Indians*. University of
California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles. 227 pp.

Moser, C.L. 1993. *Native American basketry of Southern California*.
Riverside Museum Press, Riverside, California. 155 pp.

Relander, C. 1956. *Drummers and dreamers*. Caxton Printers, Caldwell,
Idaho.

Schlick, M.D. 1994. *Columbia River basketry. Gift of the ancestors,
gift of the earth*. A Samual and Althea Stroum Book. University of
Washington Press, Seattle and London. 232 pp.

Snyder, G. June 1996. *Sonoma County supervisors act to preserve
dogbane*. California Indian Basketweavers Association Newsletter #15:
page 7.

Turnbaugh, S.P. & W.A. Turnbaugh 1986. *Indian baskets*. Schiffer
Publishing Ltd. West Chester, Pennsylvania. 260 pp.

Turner, N.J., R.Bouchard, & D.I.D. Kennedy 1980. *Ethnobotany of the
Okanagan-Colville Indians of British Columbia*. British Columbia
Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C. Occasional Paper No. 21.

# Prepared By:

*Michelle Stevens*

formerly USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

# Species Coordinator

*M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

c/o Environmental Horticulture Department, University of California,
Davis, California

Edited: 05dec00 jsp; 17mar03 ahv; 30may06jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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