Bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva'') is a small

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

herb in the family

Montiaceae Montiaceae are a family of flowering plants, comprising about 14 genera with about 230 known species, ranging from small herbaceous plants to shrubs. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution. The family Montiaceae was newly adopted in the APG ...

. Its specific epithet ("revived, reborn") refers to its ability to regenerate from dry and seemingly dead roots. The genus ''

Lewisia ''Lewisia'' is a plant genus, named for the American explorer Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) who encountered the species in 1806. The native habitat of ''Lewisia'' species is north facing cliffs in western North America. Local Native Americans ate ...

'' was moved in 2009 from the purslane family (

Portulacaceae The Portulacaceae are a family of flowering plants, comprising 115 species in a single genus '' Portulaca''. Formerly some 20 genera with about 500 species, were placed there, but it is now restricted to encompass only one genus, the other genera ...

) with adoption of the APG III system, which established the family Montiaceae.

Description

''Lewisia rediviva'' is a low-growing

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

with a fleshy taproot and a simple or branched base. The flower stems are leafless, tall, bearing at the tip a whorl of 5–6 linear bracts which are 5–10 mm long. A single flower appears on each stem with 5–9 oval-shaped sepals. They range in color from whitish to deep pink or lavender. Flowering occurs from April through July. The petals (usually about 15) are oblong in shape and are long. At maturity, the bitterroot produces egg-shaped capsules with 6–20 nearly round seeds. The thick roots come into season in spring and can survive extremely dry conditions. If collected early enough in the season, they can be peeled, boiled, and made into a jelly-like food.

Distribution

The plant is native to western North America from low to moderate elevations on grassland, open bushland, forest in dry rocky or gravelly soils. Its range extends from southern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, through

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

west of the Cascade Range to southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and east to western

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

, northern

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

and northern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

History and culture

French trappers knew the plant as (bitter root). Native American names include ''spetlum/sp̓eƛ̓m̓'' or ''spetlem'' ("hand-peeled"), ''nakamtcu'' ( Ktanxa: ''naqam¢u''), and ''mo'ôtáa-heséeo'ôtse'' (

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

, "black medicine"). The roots were consumed by tribes such as the Shoshone and the Flathead Indians as an infrequent delicacy. Traditionally, the

Ktunaxa The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...

cooked bitterroot with

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

. For the Ktunaxa, bitterroot is eaten with sugar; other tribes prefer eating it with salt. The

Lemhi Shoshone The Lemhi Shoshone are a tribe of Northern Shoshone, also called the Akaitikka, Agaidika, or "Eaters of Salmon".Murphy and Murphy, 306 The name "Lemhi" comes from Fort Lemhi, a Mormon mission to this group. They traditionally lived in the Lemhi Ri ...

believed the small red core found in the upper taproot had special powers, notably being able to stop a bear attack. Plains Indians peeled and boiled the root prior to its consumption. Bitterroot, Lewisia rediviva var

Meriwether Lewis ate bitterroot in 1805 and 1806 during the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

. The specimens he brought back were identified and given their scientific name, ''Lewisia rediviva'', by a German-American botanist, Frederick Pursh. Based on Lewis and Clark's manuscript, Pursh labeled it "spatlum"; this apparently was actually a

Salishan The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana). They are characterised by ...

name for "tobacco". The bitterroot was selected as the Montana state flower in 1895. Three major geographic features – the

Bitterroot Mountains The Northern and Central Bitterroot Range, collectively the Bitterroot Mountains ( Salish: čkʷlkʷqin), is the largest portion of the Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mountains and Idaho Batholith, located in the panhandle of Idaho and we ...

(running north–south and forming the divide between

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

and Montana), the Bitterroot Valley, and the Bitterroot River (which flows south–north, terminating in the Clark Fork river in the city of

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

) – owe the origins of their names to this flower.

References

External links

* *
Calflora Database: ''Lewisia rediviva'' (Bitter root)

U.S. Forest Service

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4113860 Lewisia Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Plants used in Native American cuisine Symbols of Montana Taxa named by Frederick Traugott Pursh Flora without expected TNC conservation status

Description

Distribution

History and culture

References

Further reading

External links