Page:The Pima Indians.pdf/139

134 hence a higher price is sometimes demanded for baskets in which a large amount of devil's claw is used.

Leaves of the agave are sometimes used, but baskets of this material are obtained chiefly from the Papagos. Wood from the slender branches of cottonwood is sometimes used to take the place of willow, but it is less durable and soon becomes yellow. It is prepared in the same manner and kept in the same sort of coils as the willow (fig. 57, c).

Wheat straw is extensively used in the manufacture of the jar-shaped grain baskets. It is of modern introduction, and has not fully supplanted the ancient style of grain bin.

The arrow bush (Pluchea borealis) was the principal material employed in the construction of storage bins or baskets. It is everywhere abundant along the river, and is one of the few shrubs of Pimería that is not armed with thorns, its slender, graceful stalks being easily manipulated (pl., a).

Reeds, Phragmitis communis, were formerly common along the Gila, but continuous seasons of drought caused them to disappear. Sleeping mats were made from them, but such mats are now rarely seen, agave leaf being used instead.

Plate, c illustrates the crucifixion thorn, Holocantha emoryi, surrounded by saltbushes.