Lomatium cous (Biscuit-Root) - photos and description
Stems reddish below
Bracts elliptic to oblanceolate
General: Short, acaulescent plants with petioles and peduncle red in colour. Leaves when crushed have a celery-like aroma. Flower stems are angled. Stems and leaves are glabrous.
Flowers: Yellow flower umbels appear in early May. Flower umbels to 3 cm in diameter. Bracts are elliptic to oblanceolate, we measured bracts at 4 mm long and 2 mm wide, the bracts with a rounded tip.
Leaves: All basal, they are divided 3 times, the leaflets elliptic in shape. Leaf with petiole was measured to 11 cm long and 6 cm wide.
Height: Budd's Flora lists the height to 25 cm, we measured plants to 11 cm tall.
Habitat: Slopes in the Cypress Hills.
Abundance: This plant is extremely rare, ranked as an S1 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: Photos taken May 7th, May 11th, May 16th, May 17th, and June 3rd, on rocky slopes in the Cypress Hills, about 425 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.