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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. |
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Lomatium
minimum Montane. Meadows. Summer. Lomatium minimum is but two-to-twelve centimeters tall with flower stems not much more than a few centimeters taller. The plants pictured on this page grow on a rocky knoll at 10,400 feet and none of the many hundreds of plants were more than 3 centimeters tall. Unfortunately we found only one plant in flower and for some strange reason, I did not photograph the centimeter-wide yellow flower. We have visited this knoll a number of times but never before noticed these cute miniatures. Apparently no one else ever has either, for these are a San Juan County record and the specimens I collected will be sent to the BYU Herbarium. As the map below indicates, this plant had previously been found in only three Utah counties -- and no where else. After discovering this plant near Bruce Canyon, Mathias first named it Cogswellia minima in 1932; he renamed it Lomatium minimum in 1937. |
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Lomatium
minimum Montane. Meadows. Summer. Flower petals have fallen but the developing seeds have a beauty of their own. |
Range map © John Kartesz,
County Color Key
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Range map for Lomatium minimum |
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