Anemopsis californica – “Yerba Mansa”

Also Known As: Lizard’s Tail
Family: Lizard’s Tail Family (Saururaceae)
Bloom Period: Feb-Mar
Form: Perennial herbaceous ground-cover
Habitat: Moist places such as seeps and oases
Leaves: Elliptic to oblong, sometimes cordate; mostly basal, leaves on stem much smaller and alternate
Translation: “Anemopsis” is Greek and refers to this plant’s resemblance to a flower in the genus Anenome; “californica” means “Californian.”
Notes: “Yerba” and “mansa” are both Spanish words, meaning “herb” and “gentle,” respectively, but – as herbalist and author J. A. Soule has pointed out – the plant is not a sedative, though it many other medicinal uses. Most likely, Soule surmises, “mansa” is “a Spanish alteration of the original native word for the plant, now lost in the depths of time.” Because Yerba Mansa needs moisture, it is rare in the desert, but locally abundant when it is found. This photograph was taken at the marsh in the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. The central, cone-shaped portion of the flower turns into a single, tough fruit that can float away to spread its tiny, pepper-like seeds.
Native American Uses: This plant was a virtual medicine cabinet for a number of tribes. The Cahuilla treated colds, chest congestion, ulcers, and pleurisy and washed open sores with an infusion of the bark; the Kawaiisu treated colds, coughs and diabetes and made a salve for cuts and wounds; the Paiute treated gonorrhea, used it as a laxative and bathed sore muscles and feet in a decoction of the leaves; the Shoshone treated fits, colds, stomachaches and gonorrhea and used a decoction of the roots as an antiseptic wash. The Cahuilla and Kawaiisu also used it to treat sores on livestock.