Lomatium minus
Lomatium nevadense
Day Valley desert-parsley, John Day desert parsley, John Day Valley desert parsley
Nevada biscuitroot, Nevada desert parsley, Nevada lomatium
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, mostly 1-pinnate-1–2-pinnatifid, leaves divided 2.5 times;
petiole sheathing basally to more than 1/2 length;
blade ovate to triangular, 2–10 × 1–5 cm, surfaces sparsely hairy, rarely scabrous or glabrous, plants with fusiform roots have hairy leaves;
leaflets ± lax, ± open, not overlapping, basal pair of primary leaflets the largest, but mostly sessile or short-petiolulate, petiolules seldom over 1 cm, penultimate segments narrow, usually less than 2 mm wide, ultimate segments 100–700, elliptic to ovate, not narrowed at base, (0.5–)2–10 × 0.5–3 mm, ± even or markedly unequal in length within leaf, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, sometimes rounded, callus tips 0–0.2 mm, firm but not spinelike, terminal segment 0.5–10 mm;
cauline leaves 0–4+, if present, with petioles sometimes sheathing entire length.
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.
1–8(–15) per plant, 1(–2) per stem, ascending or erect, not inflated, 7–35 cm, exceeding leaves, 1–2(–4) mm wide 1 cm below umbel, mostly glabrous but prominently puberulent at apex, with mostly peglike hairs (25x).
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.
1–3 cm wide in flower, 3–8(–15) cm wide in fruit, rays 5–18, fertile rays 1–15, ascending to spreading, 1–5 cm in fruit, unequal, glabrous or sparsely hairy;
involucel bractlets (0–)3–8, present on at least some umbellets, usually connate basally, occasionally to near tip, linear to lanceolate, rarely elliptic to broadly elliptic, 1.5–3.8 mm, subequal to flowers, margins narrowly to broadly scarious, ciliate or not, entire or rarely 3-lobed, glabrous or sometimes hairy only near base, rarely entirely hairy.
petals purple to dark pink, glabrous;
anthers purple;
ovary and young fruit glabrous.
petals white, rarely pinkish, glabrous;
anthers pink-purple;
ovary and young fruit densely hairy when young, often glabrescent with age.
(5.5–)6.5–8(–9) mm, shorter than fruit.
3–14 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, orbiculate to broadly elliptic, 4.7–9.4 × 3–8.4 mm, length/width ratio 1–1.8, glabrous or hairy;
wings 1–2.6(–3.2) mm wide, (30–)50–105% of body width, paler than body, well developed;
abaxial ribs slightly or not raised;
apex rounded to obtuse;
commissure raised 0.2–0.3 mm (causing gap between lateral wings of mericarps, often with narrow groove where carpophore was embedded; oil ducts 1–3 in intervals, 2–6(–8) on commissure, 1 in each wing.
= 22.
Lomatium minus
Lomatium nevadense
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.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Lomatium nevadense is a common species with white petals and more or less hairy leaves and peduncles. It has less divided leaves than 78. L. ravenii; see the discussion under that species. Lomatium donnellii and L. foeniculaceum differ in having yellow petals. See also the discussion under 6. L. bentonitum.
In both varieties, fruits can be glabrous or hairy. Both vary in general pubescence, although var. nevadense tends to be more densely hairy, and var. parishii can appear glabrous at first glance. Preliminary results of DNA sequencing suggest that the varieties of L. nevadense may not be each other’s closest relatives, although given the difficulty of identifying samples of little desert Lomatium, more evidence is needed.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Suprabasal primary leaflets with 0–14 secondary leaflets; peduncles with usually dense, shaggy hairs; leaf blade ultimate segments relatively crowded, relatively similar in length, longest 3–6.5(–9.5) mm. | var. nevadense |
1. Suprabasal primary leaflets with 0–6 secondary leaflets; peduncles sparsely short-hairy, not shaggy; leaf blade ultimate segments relatively remote, relatively dimorphic in length, longest usually (4.5–)7–15(–27) mm. | var. parishii |
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
