Species: Lomatium dissectum var. multifidum (Nutt.) Mathias & Constance

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Lomatium dissectum var. multifidum (Nutt.) Mathias & Constance

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Apiaceae

Genus:

Lomatium

Species Synonyms:

Lomatium dissectum var. eatonii (Coult. & Rose) Cronq.
Leptotaenia multifida Nutt.

Common Names:

carrotleaf biscuitroot

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

British Columbia, including Vancouver Island - southwestern Alberta, southeastern Alberta - southwestern Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan:

southwestern Saskatchewan; Cypress Hills

Ecoregion:

Cypress Hills Upland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

fine soils, north-facing slopes, forested areas in dominated by aspen, lodgepole pine, or white spruce

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Threatened

Nature Conservancy Status:

G4T4 S1

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Carrotleaf biscuitroot is threatened in Saskatchewan because it is extremely rare and regionally restricted in the province. No immediate threats are known but are possible in the future.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

3 - 15 dm tall.

Roots:

taproot short, knobby, spindle-shaped

Stems:

ridged, hairless, straw colored; rarely absent

Leaves:

alternate; sheathing; 15 – 40 cm long, 10 – 30 cm wide; deltoid to orbicular; divided into threes then 2 – 4 time pinnate; upper leaf surface hairless; veins and margin on underside of leaf with short, firm hairs

Leaflets:

ultimate divisions 2 – 20 mm long, linear

Inflorescence:

umbel compound; bracts to 1 cm long; rays 10 - 20, 4.5 – 5.5 cm long

Umbellets:

bractlets strongly reflexed, linear to lance-shaped; fruiting stalks 0.4 - 2 cm in var. multifidum; flowers 20 – 40

Flowers:

~ 2 mm long, yellowish or dark purple, some sterile

Fruits:

schizocarp, to 1.2 cm long, 6 – 10 mm wide, elliptic, light colored, hairless; styles persistent; lateral wings thick and corky, narrower than seed-bearing body, oil tubes obscure, flattened

LOMATIUM KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN
Lomatium looks like Musineon but Musineon is not aromatic and the fruits are wingless.

1 Ovary and fruit usually minutely hairy	L. foeniculaceum
1 Ovary and fruit hairless	2

2 Roots bulbous; above ground stem absent; bractlets inversely ovate	L. cous
2 Roots not bulbous (may be thickened); above ground stem present; bractlets lance-shaped	3

3 Plants 30 – 150 cm tall; stems hairless; leaves with fine hairs; flowers yellow, occasionally purplish	L. dissectum var. multifidum
3 Plants 10 – 50 cm tall; stems and leaves hairy; flowers white or purplish, sometimes pinkish	4

4 Plant densely short woolly, with long, shaggy hairs, or nearly hairless; bractlets short woolly or with long, shaggy hairs, bractlets equaling to surpassing flowers, not thin, dry and membranous margined; wing broader than body	L. macrocarpum
4 Plant with soft, fine, short hairs; bractlets hairless with thin, dry and membranous margins, bractlets equaling flowers; wing narrower than body	L. orientale