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Apiaceae (Parsley Family)
Montane, subalpine.
Woodlands, openings. Summer.
West Mancos Trail, June
26, 2004.
Love Root is very common in the San Juans and other Four Corners mountains and often grows in dense stands covering acres under Aspens and in meadows. A mass of large, fern-like leaves arch upward to two or three feet and are followed by three-to-six foot flower stalks. Flower heads open to four inches across.
Being a common plant sometimes means that you will have many common names; this certainly is true of Ligusticum porteri. It is called Loveroot, Lovage, Porter’s Lovage, Porter’s Ligusticum, Osha, Chuchupate, Licorice Root, and Wild Parsley. "Ligusticum" is Latin, and probably means "from the Liguria region of Italy", where a related plant, Lovage, Levisticum officinale, grows in profusion and is widely used as a herb.
Thomas C. Porter, 1822-1901, was a Professor of Botany and a Colorado botanist who collected this lovely plant along the headwaters of the Platte in 1873. In 1870 he and John Coulter published the first Colorado flora, the Synopsis of the Flora of Colorado. (More biographical information.)
Flower heads begin tightly packed and green with rose and purple tinges.
Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state
Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Eradicated
Questionable presence
