Southwest Colorado Wildflowers, Cymopterus bulbosus

Cymopterus bulbosus, pictured on this page, and Cymopterus purpurascens are very similar plants which really only can be distinguished from each other when fully mature in fruit, and even then it is difficult to tell them apart. When mature, C. bulbosus is up to ten inches tall; C. purpurascens is six inches tall. As the flowers mature, their stems elongate beyond the bracts only in C. bulbosus. C. bulbosus fruit is in an open versus tight cluster and the wings on its fruit are about 1.7-3 millimeters wide versus 3-6.5 mm wide. The latter characteristic and the existence in C. bulbosus of a carpophore (a very slender filament to which the seeds are attached) are probably the keys to distinguishing these two species. The carpophore is only visible after the seeds have dropped. I will try to get a picture of the carpophore soon.

Constantine Rafinesque (1783-1840) named this genus, probably in 1833 when he renamed Selinum acaule (a name given by Pursh in 1814) to Cymopterus acaulis. The Greek "cym" and "pterum" come together as "Cymopterus", "waved" "wing", referring to the fruit.

Intermountain Flora observes that "the taxonomic definition of Cymopterus is a vexed question.... Even the distinction between Cymopterus and Lomatium is subject to failure. Ordinarily one or more of the dorsal ribs [of the seeds have wings in] Cymopterus, but not in Lomatium. Cymopterus newberryi completely bridges the difference. In this species the dorsal wings vary from nearly or fully as large as the lateral ones to poorly developed or even obsolete".

See more Cymopterus and the similar genera Lomatium and Podistera and Oreoxis.

Cymopterus bulbosus
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Semi-desert. Openings, shrublands, woodlands. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, March 27, 2005.

In early spring, the white papery bracts of Cymopterus bulbosus are eye-arresting. Purple/pink flowers push through the bracts and enlarge, the bracts fading away. Leaves are a beautiful pale green on broad flat stalks and provide a tasty treat for small critters -- notice the clipped stalks to the left of center.

Alice Eastwood first collected specimens of this plant in Durango, Colorado in 1890 and Marcus Jones named the plant Cymopterus utahensis variety eastwoodae in 1895. Aven Nelsen renamed this species Cymopteris bulbosus in 1899.

"Bulbosus" refers to the enlarged root.

Cymopterus bulbosus
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Semi-desert. Openings, shrublands, woodlands. Spring.
Ancients National Monument, .
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, March 27, 2005 and April 2, 2005.

Flowers start completely enclosed in tight papery white bracts and gradually enlarge; bracts eventually age and disappear.

Cymopterus bulbosus
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Semi-desert. Openings, shrublands, woodlands. Spring.
BLM lands near the San Juan River, April 6, 2005.

Young maturing seeds.

Cymopterus means "winged fruit".

Cymopterus bulbosus
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Semi-desert. Openings, shrublands, woodlands. Spring.
El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico, May 5, 2008.

Mature seeds.