KU.UT
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Ku.ut is a versatile plant utilized in
various ways by the Tongva. It has many medicinal uses. To relieve fever and upset stomach, the flowers are brewed into a tea.
This tea can also serve as a dental wash. When some leaves are
added, the tea becomes a wound dressing and an eyewash. If the tea is
thickened, it can be used
to sweat out fevers and clear chest congestion.
Ku.ut roots are
boiled and mashed and applied to inflammations. The crushed leaves
are made into a paste and applied to treat skin sores caused by contact
with poison oak. Ku.ut and sobochesh (manzanita)
leaves mixed together help to relieve aching feet.
Ku.ut flowers and blue-grey fruits are
also a good food source. In addition, the Tongva also use the twigs
and fruits to make a black dye, and the leaves to produce a light
yellow-green dye. They make clapper sticks, bullroarers, and
whistles out of the branches.