Salvia columbariae

 Salvia columbariae (chia) (chía)

Lamiaceae

  • Los pueblos nativos de las Californias valoraban mucho esta semilla pequeña pero altamente nutritiva. las recolectaban a fines de la primavera o principios del verano.
  • Los nativos de California sabían que la chía responde bien al fuego y quemaban regularmente las áreas para estimular el mayor crecimiento de la planta.
  • Los kumiai comían las semillas crudas y eran especialmente útiles cuando viajaban. También secaron, molieron y mezclaron la semilla con agua para hacer una bebida.
  • Ranging from sky-b;ue to indigo, the flowers of chias cluster like rings on terminal spikes above highly-divided foliage. Popular with many bees, the heights of the plant vary from six inches to a foot and a half, depending upon moisture availability. The seeds of this annual contain a mucilage which gels up when they are placed in water, forming a sticky, inflated mass. This characteristic allows the seeds to stick to a site once rainfall has begun and perhaps provides germinating seeds with additional moisture. Chias bloom from sea level to 4, 500 feet at the desert edge, from early March to July. "Arizona Highways Presents Desert Wildflowers, 1988".
  • Direct sowing/ No treatment needed/Time of planting: autumn-winter. "Arizona Highways Presents Desert Wildflowers, 1988".
  • This small mint is widespread in arid regions in the southwestern part of the United States, and in Sonora it extends south into the northern part of the Seri region as a winter-spring ephemeral. Chia seed was an important food resource for Indians and early settlers in parts of the southwestern United States. Apparently, it was too scarce in the Seri region to be significant, and was not used by them. "People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians".

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