Lomatium minus
Lomatium cous
Day Valley desert-parsley, John Day desert parsley, John Day Valley desert parsley
cous, cous biscuit-root, cous-root desert-parsley
arising at slightly different heights, not forming just 1 rosette, blue-green, glaucous, often 2–3-ternate-3-pinnately dissected;
petiole broadly sheathing basally to 1/2 length;
blade triangular to ovate, 5–12 × 2.7–10 cm, surfaces glabrous;
penultimate segments narrow, usually less than 2 mm wide, ultimate segments 1000–5000, linear, 1–5 × 0.5 mm, not overlapping, margins entire, apex acute, callus tips 0–0.2 mm, firm but not spinelike, terminal segment 1–5 mm;
cauline leaves 0–2, petioles sometimes sheathing more than 1/2 length.
arising at slightly different heights, not forming just 1 rosette, green or slightly blue-green, ternate-1–2-pinnate-pinnatifid;
petiole sheathing basally to entire length, but usually not conspicuously expanded;
blade broadly oblong or broadly ovate, sometimes elliptic, (2.5–)5–10(–14) × (0.5–)1–8(–11) cm, surfaces glabrous, sometimes scaberulous;
penultimate segments narrow, usually less than 2 mm wide, ultimate segments (15–)50–300(–600), elliptic, sometimes oblong or ovate, (1–)6–10(–15) × 0.5–3 mm, relatively narrow, margins entire, usually not reflexed, apex broadly acute to rounded, callus tips 0.1 mm, firm but not spinelike, terminal segment 2–8 mm;
cauline leaves 0(–2).
absent or subterranean.
subterranean.
1–6 per plant, usually 1 per stem, decumbent, spreading, or ascending, strongly inflated at maturity, 5–15(–24) cm, exceeding leaves, 2–8(–11) mm wide 1 cm below umbel, glabrous.
1–7 per plant, (1–)2–4 per stem, ascending to erect, not inflated, 3–27 cm, exceeding leaves, 1–3 mm wide 1 cm below umbel in fruit, glabrous or scaberulous.
2.5–4.7 cm wide in flower, 3.6–8.6 cm wide in fruit, rays 6–16, spreading, 1–4(–6) cm in fruit, subequal to unequal, glabrous;
involucel bractlets several, distinct, linear-subulate, (3–)4–9(–15) mm, shorter or longer than flowers, margins very broadly scarious, not ciliate, entire, glabrous;
umbellets 8–15-flowered.
2–6 cm wide in flower, 2.5–13 cm wide in fruit, rays 7–20, ascending or spreading, to 11 cm in fruit, unequal, glabrous or sparsely scabrous;
involucel bractlets 4–12, present on most umbellets, distinct, broadly elliptic to ovate to obovate, rarely orbiculate or oblanceolate, 1.5–5 mm, equaling or much longer than flowers, margins narrowly scarious, not ciliate, entire, sometimes few-toothed, glabrous.
petals purple to dark pink, glabrous;
anthers purple;
ovary and young fruit glabrous.
petals yellow, fading to white, glabrous;
anthers yellow;
ovary and young fruit usually granular-roughened when young with up to 90 papillae per mm2, sometimes becoming glabrous with age.
(5.5–)6.5–8(–9) mm, shorter than fruit.
(1.5–)2–4(–7) mm, shorter than fruit.
± dorsiventrally compressed, narrowly elliptic or oblong-oval, 8.8–16(–19.3) × (3–)4.7–7.8 mm, length/width ratio 1.9–3.3;
wings 0.9–2 mm wide, 25–50% of body width, ± same color as body;
abaxial ribs slightly raised;
apex obtuse;
oil ducts usually 1 in intervals, 3–4 on commissure, conspicuous.
dorsiventrally compressed, oblong to broadly elliptic, 4.6–12 × (2.3–)3–5(–6) mm, length/width ratio 1.5–2.6;
wings 1.1–1.7 mm wide, 50–80% of body width, paler than body;
abaxial ribs slightly or definitely raised, winglike;
apex turncate to rounded;
oil ducts 1(–4) in intervals, 4–6(–7) on commissure, inconspicuous.
= 22.
Lomatium minus
Lomatium cous
Lomatium minus is strongly glaucous with purple or pink petals, narrow leaflets, and an inflated stem like that of L. columbianum. However, L. minus is a much smaller plant, and the peduncle is inflated unevenly. In mature fruits, the wings curve back, making each mericarp rounded in cross section like a bread roll. Lomatium minus is endemic to the Blue Mountains region of central Oregon, with an outlying population in northern Malheur County. It is sometimes confused with L. tuberosum, which has similar petal colors and leaflets but is endemic to central Washington. Lomatium minus is a culturally significant food plant to members of the Sahaptin Native nations (D. E. Moerman 1998).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Lomatium cous (rhymes with grouse) is a widespread, ± variable species characterized by broad involucel bractlets. Plants nearly always have shallow, easily collected tuberlike root swellings that were important as food for Indigenous Peoples throughout its range (D. E. Moerman 1998). However, roots are slender on some high elevation L. cous scattered in northeastern Oregon and perhaps Alberta. Along the southern fringes of its range, many L. cous are caulescent, suggesting possible introgression from similar L. vaginatum. Some efforts have been made to separate L. cous into taxa based on fruit scabrosity, but that trait is too variable. Certain plants from northwestern Wyoming and southwestern Montana resemble L. cous in fruit traits and leaf dissection but are more strongly scabrous, and have narrow, if any, involucel bractlets. They are treated here as L. attenuatum. True L. cous may or may not occur in Alberta, Montana, or Wyoming. Reports from Saskatchewan are in error. The species epithet comes from a Native name for the species.
Lomatium purpureum A. Nelson probably is synonymous with L. cous, but the type specimen and description are insufficient to place it with certainty.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
WA
CalFlora
