Lomatium macrocarpum (Long-Fruited Parsley) - photos and description
Bractlets extend past the flowers.
Bractlets extend past the flowers.
Bractlets are villous, not glabrous as in similar species Lomatium
orientale.
General: Low, acaulescent plants with leaves and leaf stalks covered in fine hairs, giving its leaves a greyish-green colour. Base of the peduncles red in colour.
Flowers: Flowers are white umbels, several small umbels per flowering stem appear in early May. Bractlets are lanceolate with pointed tips, are villous, and extend past the flowers. Bractlets were measured at 7 mm long and 1-2 mm wide.
Leaves: Leaves are 3-4 times divided, we measured a leaf at 9 cm long including the petiole.
Height: Stem length listed in Flora of the Great Plains to 20 cm, height listed in Flora of Alberta to 50 cm(!), we measured peduncles to 18 cm tall.
Habitat: Dry, rocky hillsides on the prairies.
Abundance: Common.
Origin: Native.
Similar species: The key in Budd's Flora to distinguish this species from Lomatium orientale is by the stems of L. macrocarpum having at least one pair of leaves near the base. Taxonomic Reminder for Recognizing Saskatchewan Plants distinguishes between the two species by the description of the bractlets - the bractlets of L. macrocarpum are longer than the flowers, while the bractlets of L. orientale are not. The Flora of the Great Plains separates the two species by hairiness of the bractlets - the bractlets of L. macrocarpum are villous, while the bractlets of L. orientale are glabrous.
When and where photographed: Photos taken May 7th on a rocky hillside, south facing slope in the Centre Block of the Cypress Hills, about 400 km southwest of Regina, May 2nd and May 8th, slopes of the Souris River valley, about 200 km southeast of Regina, SK, May 21st, grassland in west block of Grasslands National Park, about 400 km southwest of Regina, SK, and June 3rd on a rocky slope, Cypress Hills about 425 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.