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| ## yerba mansa {#yerba-mansa .Title-Header}                           |
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| *Anemopsis californica* (Nutt.) Hook. & Arn.                          |
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| Plant Symbol = ANCA10                                                 |
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*Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center*

# Alternate Names

Bear root

# Uses

*Ethnobotanic*: The root of the plant was used as a medicine by many
tribes in California, Great Basin, and the Southwest including the
Wukchumni Yokuts, Kawaiisu, Paiute, Shoshone, and Pima. Some Native
Americans still gather the plant today. The Kawaiisu, for example,
boiled the root and a decoction was then drunk hot to alleviate colds
and coughing. The Tubatulabal of southern California for colds also took
a decoction of the plant. The Kamia of Imperial Valley pulverized the
seeds of yerba mansa in the mortar and the meal was then cooked as mush
in a pot or baked as bread in hot ashes. The Yokuts pounded up the root
and soaked it in water. The water was then drunk for a bad stomach. The
Costanoan made a decoction from the root, which was used, for menstrual
cramps and for general pain remedy. A tea was used to wash sores and the
plant, dried and powdered, was sprinkled on wounds as a disinfectant.
The Cahuilla peeled, cut up, squeezed, and boiled the roots into a
decoction that was drank as a cure for pleurisy. An infusion was also
used as a cure for stomach ulcers, chest congestion, and colds.

The bark was also harvested in autumn and boiled into a deep red-wine
color and drank to alleviate

ulcers or applied externally to wash open sores. The Moapa Paiute boiled
the leaves in a quantity of water and used it as a bath for muscular
pains and for sore feet. The Shoshone mashed the roots and boiled them
to make a poultice for swellings, or the decoctions used as an
antiseptic wash. A tea from the boiled roots can be taken for
stomachache or more commonly as a tonic for general debility following
colds. The Pima in the Southwest made an infusion of dried roots which
was taken for colds. They also chewed the roots and swallowed them or
made a decoction of the roots which was taken for coughs. Spanish
settlers in California used the plant as a liniment for skin troubles
and as a tea for disorders of the
blood.![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.3027777777777776in"
height="1.8534722222222222in"}

# 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*: Lizard's Tail Family (Saururaceae). This common herbaceous
perennial has an aromatic, creeping rhizome, which is thick and woody.
The flowers do have not true petals, but rather each flower is subtended
by an involucre bract 1-3 cm long that is white, often tinged reddish.
There are about one hundred flowers to each conical-shaped flower head.
The conical spike is stout, 1-3 cm long and is subtended by 4-8 unequal
white petal-like bracts, 1-2 cm long and rounded. The fruit is a
capsule. The leaves have a spicy smell and are alternate and simple.

# Distribution

For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this
species on the PLANTS Web site. The plants are found in saline or
alkaline soil in damp or wet places in many different plant community
types, such as valley grassland, saltgrass flats, and desert fan palm
oases. The range of the plant is from the Peninsular Ranges, South Coast
Ranges and Mojave Desert of California on the south, and north through
the Sacramento, San Joaquin Valleys and San Francisco Bay Area. The
plant also inhabits the Channel Islands off the southern California
coast. Its range extends into Utah, central Kansas, northcentral
Oklahoma, Colorado at the foot of the Front Range, Arizona, northwest
New Mexico, and west Texas

# Establishment

This plant is not valued horticulturally, yet its white bracts are quite
attractive. This plant is hardy and spreads rapidly, and can become
invasive. Start the plant from a fleshy root. Dig up the plants from an
already established area and transplant them in the fall or winter.
Directly outplant the plants in the ground in full sun, giving them
plenty of space. Place the plants one-foot apart. The transplants will
fill in quickly, sending 2-3 feet of runners radiating out from each
plant. Water the transplants and keep them moist year round. If growing
the plants for their roots for medicinal purposes, plant them in a loose
soil.

# Management

Weed around the plants periodically. Areas of yerba mansa were burned
periodically by the Wukchumni Yokuts to maintain their quality and
abundance.

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

ANCA is available from native plant nurseries within its range.

# References

Bean L.J. & K.S. Saubel. 1972. *Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian knowledge and
usage of plants*. Malki Museum Press, Morongo Indian Reservation,
Banning, CA.

Bocek, B.R. 1984. *Ethnobotany of Costanoan Indians, California, based
on collections by John P. Harrington*. Economic Botany 38(2):240-255.

Chalfant, W.A. 1933. *The story of Inyo*. 229 p.

Curtin, L.S.M. 1949. *By the prophet of the earth*. San Vicente
Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Franco, H. 1993. *That place needs a good fire*. News From Native
California 7(2):17-19.

Jepson, W.L. 1925. *A manual of the flowering plants of California*.
University of California Press. Berkeley, California.

Kaul, R.B. 1986. *Saururaceae*. p. 79 IN: Flora of the Great Plains.
R.L. McGregor, T.M. Barkley, R.E. Brooks, E.K. Schofield (eds).
University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

McClintock, E. 1993. *Saururaceae*. pp. 1000-1002 IN: The Jepson Manual:
Higher Plants of California. J.C. Hickman (ed.). University of
California Press, Berkeley, California.

Powers, S. 1976. *Tribes of California*. University of California Press,
Berkeley, California. p. 480.

Train, P., J.R. Henrichs & W.A. Archer 1957. *Contributions toward a
Flora of Nevada No. 45*. USDA, ARS, Plant Industry Station Beltsville,
Maryland.

Train, P., J.R. Henrichs, & W.A. Archer 1941. *Medicinal uses of plants
by Indian tribes of Nevada*. Contributions Toward a Flora of Nevada No.
33. USDA, The Division of Plant Exploration and Introduction, Bureau of
Plant Industry, Washington D.C.

USDA, NRCS 1999. *The PLANTS database*. National Plant Data Center,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. \<http://plants.usda.gov\>. Version: 990405.

Voegelin, E.W. 1938. *Tubatulabal ethnography*. Anthropological Records
2(1):1-84.

Zigmond, M.L. 1981. *Kawaiisu ethnobotany*. University of Utah Press,
Salt Lake City, Utah

# Prepared By & Species Coordinators

*M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

c/o Plant Science Department, University of California, Davis,
California

*Wayne Roderick*

Former Director of the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Berkeley,
California

Edited 25jul00 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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