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"One of the plants that I gathered is juncus textilis, a round reed that grows in riparian areas, sandy stream beds gone dry, on the side of creeks and under oaks or willow. Juncus is used fresh for gathering baskets or dried, split and coiled into baskets used for storage, winnowing, cooking or gathering. Other basket materials that maybe used include sumac, (rhus trilobata) redbud, willow, pine needles, and yucca. Deergrass, a native clumping grass that grows into large mounds is gathered at a certain time of the year, after the seeds have ripened and before the weather takes its toll on the stalk. The straight spring stalks of the sumac plant (rhus trilobata) are gathered before the leaf buds begin to swell . This is carefully split, wound into bundles and seasoned. It is then sized and cleaned to prepare it for use. All the woody inner material must be removed before this can be used for basket weaving. Sumac was often used for cooking baskets as the sumac is tough and can stand the heat from the hot cooking stones that are dropped into the food to heat the water or cook the meal."
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