Lomatium minus |
Lomatium suksdorfii |
|
---|---|---|
Day Valley desert-parsley, John Day desert parsley, John Day Valley desert parsley |
Suksdorf's biscuit-root, Suksdorf's desert-parsley, Suksdorf's lomatium |
|
Habit | Herbs blue-green, acaulous or short-caulescent, 10–30 cm, robust, glabrous; caudex simple or 2–3-branched, with persistent leaf sheaths weathering into fibrous thatch, with persistent, gray peduncles; taproot thick, sometimes horizontal, sometimes with shallow, irregular, tuberlike swellings. | Herbs green, usually caulescent, but 1st shoot acaulous, (5–)90–200(–210) cm, glabrous; caudex branched, with persistent leaf bases weathering into chaffy, blackish, chartaceous scales sometimes exposing fibers, without persistent peduncles; taproot thick. |
Leaves | 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, ternate-2–3-pinnate or quinate-2–3-pinnate; petiole sheathing basally to entire length; blade rhombic or widely obovate, 6–20 × 6–18 cm, surfaces glabrous; primary leaflets much divided; ultimate segments 400–1000, linear, 10–50 × 1–5 mm, relatively narrow, crowded, confluent at base with adjacent lobe, petiolule absent, margins entire, usually not reflexed, apex acute, callus tips 0–0.1 mm, terminal segment 17–24(–27) mm; cauline leaves 0–2, if present, with more than 5 ultimate segments. |
Pseudoscapes | absent or subterranean. |
absent. |
Peduncles | 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. |
1–30 per plant, 1 per stem, ascending or erect, not inflated, 20–80 cm, exceeding leaves, 2.5–6 mm wide 1 cm below umbel, glabrous. |
Umbels | 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. |
4.5–8.3 cm wide in flower, 11.5–25 cm wide in fruit, rays 13–25, fertile rays 8–15, spreading, 6–11 cm in fruit, unequal, glabrous; involucel bractlets (3–)4–7(–9), distinct, linear, to 11 mm, equaling or exceeding flowers, margins scarious, not ciliate, entire, glabrous. |
Flowers | petals purple to dark pink, glabrous; anthers purple; ovary and young fruit glabrous. |
petals yellow, glabrous; anthers yellow; ovary and young fruit glabrous. |
Fruiting pedicels | (5.5–)6.5–8(–9) mm, shorter than fruit. |
6–13 mm, shorter than fruit, spreading to erect when fruit is mature. |
Mericarps | ± 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, linear-oblong, 20–32 × 5.8–9.5 mm, length/width ratio 2.2–2.9; wings 2–3.2 mm wide, 45–70% of body width, paler than body; abaxial ribs raised and narrowly winglike; apex usually obtuse, rounded, or truncate; oil ducts 1(–4) in intervals, 2 on commissure. |
2n | = 66 |
|
Lomatium minus |
Lomatium suksdorfii |
|
Phenology | Flowering (Mar–)Apr–May; fruiting May–Jun. | Flowering Apr–May; fruiting mid Apr–mid Jul. |
Habitat | Steep, unstable talus slopes, stone stripes, rock outcrops. | More or less open, dry, rocky hillsides, talus, rock outcrops, moderate to steep slopes, often with Oregon white oak or ponderosa pine. |
Elevation | (700–)1000–1300 m. [(2300–)3300–4300 ft.] | 150–1400 m. [500–4600 ft.] |
Distribution |
OR
|
OR; WA
|
Discussion | 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 suksdorfii grows in the Columbia River Gorge of Washington (Klickitat County) and Oregon (Wasco and Hood River counties). It is a large plant with very large fruits, like those of L. columbianum. Its stature is similar to L. columbianum and L. klickitatense, but its ultimate leaf segments are fewer and broader. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 13. | FNA vol. 13. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Leptotaenia minor | Peucedanum suksdorfii |
Name authority | (Rose ex Howell) Mathias & Constance: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 69: 246. (1942) | (S. Watson) J. M. Coulter & Rose: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 7: 239. (1900) |
Web links |