Food : Berries were gathered as a major food crop and eaten raw or dried for winter use. The dry pulp was mixed with water for a berry drink or cider. Ripe berries were crushed to make a gelatinous substance eaten like aspic. They were often mixed with acorns. Green berries were soaked in water overnight and then filtered to make a cider.

Seeds were ground into flour and made into a mush or baked in hot ashes as cakes. Dried and crushed berries mixed with acorn mush for flavoring. Seeds part of the “pinole” recipe.

Medicinal: A lotion was made from the leaves for poison oak. The leaves were simmered into a tea for diarrhea, for urinary infections, and boiled into a drink for headaches. The leaves were also boiled and mashed into a poultice for sores. The blossoms were steeped for tea to reduce fevers. Blossoms and leaves were made into a tea used for upset livers. Arctostaphylos patula leaves were used as a decoction for burns, skin rashes, cuts, and bruises. Manzanita has disinfecting qualities, making it useful for urinary infections.

Construction: Wood was used to build a Ki ch (house).

Spiritual: Leaves were sometimes mixed with tobacco and smoked. The wood was also preferred firewood for ceremonial fires. Forked branches were decorated with feathers and worn as headdresses in ceremonies.

Utensils: Men's hair pins were made from sobochesh twigs. Wood also used for tool making and for pipes.

Other : All the plant was used in tanning processes.

Warning: If consumed in large quantities, the fruit can be narcotic or cause constipation.

Woody evergreen shrubs, varying from low and prostrate to small trees.

A. glauca blossoms (white to pink) December to March and is common dry slopes below 4500 ft.; Chaparral; cismontane. A. glandulosa found in dry gravel places 1000-1600 ft.,; Chaparral, Yellow Pine Forest. Blossoms January to April. A. patula found on dry slopes 5000 to 9000 ft., Montane Coniferous Forest in San Gabriel Mountains ; blossoms May to June. A. parryana blossoms March to May and is found on dry stony slopes, 4000 to 7500 ft.; Chaparral and Yellow Pine forest. A. pungens is found on dry slopes, 3000 to 7000 ft.; Chaparral, Yellow Pine Forest ; blossoms February to March.

Kumitaraxam (Cahuilla) name: Kelel