Lomatium minus
Lomatium triternatum
Day Valley desert-parsley, John Day desert parsley, John Day Valley desert parsley
broad nine-leaf lomatium, broad-fruit lomatium, Lewis' lomatium, nine-leaf desert-parsley, nine-leaf lomatium, nineleaf biscuitroot, Packard's lomatium, triternate biscuit-root
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, 1–2-ternate-1–3-pinnate-0–1-pinnatifid;
petiole sheathing basally to entire length;
blade ovate to broadly ovate, 4–20 × 2–12 cm, surfaces glabrous or hairy; ultimate segments 12–45, linear to lanceolate, (23–)55–80(–119) × (0.4–)1–3.5(–5) mm, relatively narrow, length/width ratio 14–30(–40), often channeled, margins entire, usually not reflexed, apex acute, generally tapered differently than base, callus tips 0–0.1 mm, terminal segment (23–)55–80(–120) mm, length/width ratio 14–30(–40);
cauline leaves 0–3, if present, with more than 5 ultimate segments.
absent or subterranean.
usually absent, if present 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.
1–3 per plant, 1–2 per stem, ascending or erect, not inflated, 10–35 cm, exceeding leaves, 2–6 mm wide 1 cm below umbel, glabrous or finely hirtellous.
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.
2–3 cm wide in flower, 4–15 cm wide in fruit, rays 4–20, ascending to erect, 1.5–8(–10) cm in fruit, unequal, glabrous or hirtellous;
involucel bractlets (0–)1–10, distinct, linear, 1.5–8 mm, shorter or longer than flowers, margins scarious, not ciliate, entire, glabrous.
petals purple to dark pink, glabrous;
anthers purple;
ovary and young fruit glabrous.
petals bright yellow, glabrous;
anthers yellow;
ovary and young fruit glabrous or hairy, more sparsely so with age.
(5.5–)6.5–8(–9) mm, shorter than fruit.
(1–)2–6(–10) mm, shorter than fruit, spreading to erect when fruit is mature.
± 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, broadly to narrowly elliptic, (7.2–)9.2–11(–14) × (2.4–)3–4.5(–5.1) mm, length/width ratio (2.2–)2.5–3(–3.8);
wings (0.4–)0.9–1(–1.4) mm wide, (10–)30–50(–60)% of body width, paler than body;
abaxial ribs slightly to prominently raised;
apex rounded or broadly rounded at tip;
oil ducts 1 in intervals, 2 on commissure.
Lomatium minus
Lomatium triternatum
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.)
The Lomatium triternatum complex consists of yellow-petaled, moderate-sized to large Lomatium with relatively few, long, usually narrow ultimate leaf segments and without tuberlike root swellings. For identification, mature mericarps are usually necessary but rarely sufficient.
The group is in a state of incipient speciation and is too early in its diversification for clear differences to become established. Genetic evidence reveals several lineages, each varying in height, hairiness, the length and width of leaf blade ultimate segments, and the size and shape of mericarps. The best taxonomic treatment for these lineages is unclear. This treatment recognizes Lomatium andrusianum, L. anomalum, L. brevifolium, L. packardiae, and L. triternatum, but combining them all into a diverse L. triternatum could be justified, as could recognizing many more taxa. Practical botanists may choose to treat all these taxa as “L. triternatum sensu lato” (“in the broad sense”).
Preliminary data suggest that the taxa recognized here have some geographic coherence (M. V. Ottenlips et al. 2021). Lomatium andrusianum occurs from the Boise Foothills east, perhaps to Wyoming. Lomatium anomalum occurs from north-central Oregon south. The range of L. packardiae is unclear but may be restricted to the Succor Creek area of Malheur County, Oregon; it may best be treated as part of L. anomalum. Lomatium brevifolium occurs west of the Cascade Range and near it to the east. Lomatium triternatum occurs from southwest Washington and immediately adjacent Oregon eastward across northern Idaho to western Montana; reports of L. triternatum from outside this range are based on other species in this complex or L. simplex. Additional study of the whole complex is needed.
The morphologically similar Lomatium simplex (synonym, L. triternatum subsp. platycarpum) is moderately distant genetically. Its proportionately wider mature fruit permit identification if they are collected, which they rarely are. Preliminary results place L. thompsonii as sister to the L. triternatum clade.
Lomatium triternatum in the broad sense contains culturally significant food and medicinal plants for members of the Atsugewi, Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Paiute, and Okanagan-Colville Native nations, among others (D. E. Moerman 1998). Native peoples traded seeds and roots, sometimes over long distances, likely contributing to the complicated pattern of variation observed today.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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