''Cymopterus davisii'' is a species of flowering plant in the

carrot family Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plan ...

known by the common name Davis's springparsley. This small, flat,

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

ed perennial is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

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 W ...

in the United States, where it occurs in the

Albion Mountains The Albion Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. states of Idaho (~99%) and Utah (~1%), spanning Cassia County, Idaho and barely reaching into Box Elder County, Utah. The highest point in the range is Cache Peak at , and the range is a par ...

. The plant is found in the Albion Division of the Minidoka Ranger District of

Sawtooth National Forest Sawtooth National Forest is a National Forest that covers 2,110,408 acres (854,052 ha) in the U.S. states of Idaho (~96 percent) and Utah (~4 percent). Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was originall ...

. It reaches approximately in height with a short stem that is sheathed by fibrous leaf bases. Numerous leaves form a whorl around yellow-flowered umbels. Davis's springparsley was first collected by Ray J. Davis in 1939, who was a botany professor at

Idaho State University Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations in Meridian, Idah ...

. However, it was not identified as a new species until 1985 by Ron Hartman, who named it after Davis. There are three known populations of the plant. The two most extensive are on Mount Independence (a single population with Cache Peak) and Mount Harrison, and there is a smaller population to the south on Graham Peak. It occurs in alpine communities that include another Albion Mountains endemic, Christ's Indian paintbrush.

References

davisii Flora of Idaho Cassia County, Idaho Endemic flora of the United States Plants described in 1985 {{Apiaceae-stub