Lomatium foeniculaceum (Hairy-Fruited Parsley) - photos and description
Bracts fused at the base
Origin: Native.
General: Acaulescent plants, with leaves usually flat on the ground. Plant villous throughout giving its foliage a greyish-green colour. The foliage has a celery aroma when crushed. Very early flowering.
Flowers: Flowers yellow in a compound umbel, we measured a compound umbel to 3 cm diameter. Bracts subtending the umbels are fused at their base.
Leaves: Leaves basal, finely dissected, leaflets measured to 3 mm in length.
Height: We measured the height of peduncles to 10 cm tall.
Habitat: Prairie grassland and eroded slopes.
Abundance: Common.
Synonym: Listed in some of the field guides we use as Lomatium villosum.
Similar species: Could be mistaken for Musineon divaricatum, both are yellow-flowered, low growing plants in the Parsley family, share the same habitat and bloom at the same time. However, Musineon divaricatum is more or less glabrous, and its petioles are concave in cross-section. While Lomatium foeniculaceum has stems and leaves covered in hairs, and its petioles are cylindrical in cross-section.
When and where photographed: Photos taken April 29th, May 2nd, and May 7th on dry prairie in the Buffalo Grass Eco Reserve, 200 km south east Regina, SK, and May 9th prairie hillside, Big Muddy, about 200 km south of our home in Regina, SK.