Unknown

Pale Bastard Toadflax; Sandalwood

Comandra umbellata (L.) Nutt. var. pallida (A. DC.) M.E. Jones

Indigenous Names: Not Given (Meaning: “Lost Blue”), Sa-gwa-si-un-guts

Habitat: Dry to moist areas, but well-drained sties; plains to foothills; British Columbia, Canada to New Mexico; Dry to moist, well-drained sites; Found from Washington south to Texas, also from Nevada to Kansas

Seasonality: Not given

Status: Native

Medicinal Documentation

Ute

Roots are used for headaches

Ceremonial & Cultural Notes

Arapaho

Artifacts: Area next to the root bark is used as a blue dye. Commentary: This is said to be the “lost blue dye.” The plant was used as a source of blue dye. According to Murphey, “the Arapaho call it ‘The Lost Blue’ because all the Old People who know how to use it are gone.”63

Ute

At the Unitah-Quray reservation, ethnographic information was that the blue dye, which is beneath the root skin was powdered, and mixed to paint thickness with the juice of the round pin-cushion cactus.44

Botanical Reference

Parts Documented: Root, Roots

View on USDA Plants Database ↗