Southwest Colorado Wildflowers, Lomatium 2

Accurate identification of the several dozen species of Lomatium is, according to Intermountain Flora, "notoriously difficult.... Some species are highly variable...." Both fruits and flowers are often necessary for identification. Intermountain Flora further observes that "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".

"Loma" is Greek for "border" and refers to the small wings of the fruit. The genus was named by Constantine Rafinesque (1783-1840) in 1819.

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

Lomatium latilobum (Canyonlands Biscuitroot)
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, canyons. Spring.
Fiery Furnace, Arches National Park, Utah, April 1, 2005.

Canyonlands Biscuitroot is a Southeast Utah/Western Colorado endemic found primarily in the Entrada and Navajo Sandstones of Arches National Park and Colorado National Monument. One-to-two inch diameter clusters of yellow-green flowers stand well above the dark green broadly lobed leaves. This plant is eye-catching, for it is often solitary, standing out against sandy soils, often very close to sandstone fins and walls.

Roots of this and related species were dried and pounded into a flour, thus the common name "Biscuitroot". "Latilobum", meaning "broadly lobed", refers to the leaf lobes, especially as distinguished from the finely cut leaves of Lomatium parryi below.

The first specimen of this plant was collected by Per Axel Rydberg in Utah around 1900.

Lomatium latilobum (Canyonlands Biscuitroot)
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, canyons. Spring.
Fiery Furnace, Arches National Park, Utah, April 1, 2005.

Photograph by John Bregar

Lomatium latilobum (Canyonlands Biscuitroot)
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, canyons. Spring.
Behind the Rocks Wilderness Study Area, Utah, April 15, 2008.

This eye-catching mound of Lomatium latilobum is about two and one half feet in diameter and a foot high and illustrates the way in which plants such as Canyonlands Biscuitroot stabilize soil and create micro habitats.

Lomatium parryi
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, canyons. Spring.
Upper Mule Canyon, Utah, April 8, 2005.

The umbel of golden yellow flowers might at first make us think this is Lomatium latilobum, or Cymopteris fendleri, or one of the other tiny members of the Parsley family, but note the distinguishing very finely cut, fern-like leaves and the red flower stems.

Charles Parry was a 19^th century physician and eminent botanical collector for whom a number of species shown in this web site are named. He collected the first specimen of this plant in Utah probably in the 1870s. (More biographical information.)

Lomatium parryi
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, canyons. Spring.
Upper Mule Canyon, Utah, April 8, 2005.

Lomatium parryi
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, canyons. Spring.
Arches National Park, Utah, May 4, 2005.