Ethnobotany of my yard, Part 3

Ok. This is a fast, under-researched entry. It was actually somewhat difficult to find much about it.

Red Fairy Duster

Calliandra californica

Fabaceae

It is a small, evergreen shrub. Native to Mexico, especially around Baja, where it is common in desert washes and on dry hill slopes (Barneby 1998:42).

Obviously grown as an ornamental.

Root extract has been shown to have antimicrobial properties.

The Yavapai, Zuni, and Navajo used related species (C. eriophylla and C. humilis) for medicines (Moerman 1998:131). The Mayo allow their cattle to consume the leaves and stems of C. emarginata (Yetman and Van Devender 2002:196).

Barneby, Rupert
1998      Silk Tree, Guanacaste, Monkey's Earring, Part III: Calliandra. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden, NY.

 Moerman, Daniel E.
1998 Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, London.

Yetman, D. and T. R. Van Devender 
2002 Mayo Ethnobotany: Land, History, and Traditional Knowledge in Northwest Mexico.