''Cymopterus terebinthinus'' is a

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 ...

in the carrot family Apiaceae with leaves that look like

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...

and grows in the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

of the American West. Common names include Aromatic spring-parsley, northern Indian parsnip, and turpentine cymopterus.

Name

''Cymopterus'' means "wavy wing", referring to the fruit. ''Terebinthinus'' ('of turpentine') refers to the pungent smell of the plant's oil.

Description

Growth pattern

It is a low growing

from tall, spreading out from a woody base.

Leaves and stems

Leaves are long. Leaves are ovate overall, but finely pinnately dissected into segments like parsley leaves. Leaves are strongly aromatic when crushed. "Terebinthus" means "like-

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a special ...

", referring to the scented oils in the plant.

Inflorescence and fruit

The inflorescence is a peduncle with 3-24 rays, each long, bearing minuscule 5-petaled yellow flowers.

Distribution and habitat

It grows on dry, sandy or rocky slopes, typically around rocks, from in sagebrush steppe and montane plant communities of the

. It can be found in the

Toiyabe Range The Toiyabe Range is a mountain range in Lander and Nye counties, Nevada, United States. Most of the range is included within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The highest point in the range, near its southern end, is Arc Dome (11,788 ...

and

Deep Creek Mountains The Deep Creek Range, (often refereed to as the Deep Creek Mountains (Goshute: Pi'a-roi-ya-bi), are a mountain range in the Great Basin located in extreme western Tooele and Juab counties in Utah, United States. The range trends north-south (wit ...

Ecology

It is a host for ''

Papilio indra ''Papilio indra'', the Indra swallowtail, short-tailed black swallowtail, or cliff swallowtail, is a western North American butterfly in the family Papilionidae. Description The Indra swallowtail is a black swallowtail similar in coloration to ...

''.Tips on Collecting and Rearing Immatures of 375 Butterfly and Skipper Taxa
(pdf), The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Society, 2-1-2010. Some

Plateau Indian Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians (though comprising many groups) are indigenous peoples of the Interior of British Columbia ...

tribes chewed the roots to treat colds and sores.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5199768 terebinthinus Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of the Great Basin Endemic flora of the United States Plants used in traditional Native American medicine