Lomatium dissectum (Mountain Wild Parsnip) - photos and description
Leaf undersides hairy along nerves
Bracts linear
General: Leafy plants with stout stems, and large umbels of yellow flowers. Stems glabrous.
Flowers: Bright yellow flowers in umbels, the flowers with a very pleasant fragrance, appearing in early May. An entire compound umbel measured at 13 cm diameter, a secondary umbel measured at 2 cm diameter, a single flower was 2 mm diameter. Secondary umbels have linear bracts, we measured a bract at 15 mm length and 1 mm diameter.
Leaves: Leaves mostly basal, large, are divided several times. The leaf undersides with fine hairs along nerves. Stem leaves alternate. The leaf highlighted in above photo was 34 cm tall and 18 cm wide.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora from 30 cm to 90 cm. I measured plants to 84 cm tall.
Habitat: Rocky slopes in the Cypress Hills.
Abundance: Extremely rare, ranked as an S1 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
Similar species: Could be mistaken for Lomatium cous, both are yellow flowered members of the Umbelliferae family, share the same habitat, and bloom at the same time. However, Lomatium cous is a much smaller plant (to 25 cm tall), has elliptic to oblanceolate bracts, and does not have hairy undersides to its leaves.
When and where photographed: Photos taken May 20th, May 23rd, and June 3rd on very steep, rocky slopes, edge of woods, Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan, about 425 km southwest of our home in Regina.