''Lomatium parryi'', commonly known as Parry's biscuitroot and Utah desertparsley, is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

in the carrot family. It is a common herb in high altitude areas of deserts and common in desert

national parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

, such as the mountains surrounding

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. It is thought to be the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth during summer. Death Valley's Badwat ...

, in the western part of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The species epithet ''parryi'' honors

Charles Christopher Parry image:Charles Christopher Parry.jpg, Parry circa 1875 Charles Christopher Parry (August 28, 1823 – February 20, 1890) was a British-American botanist and Mountaineering, mountaineer. Biography Parry was born in Gloucestershire, England, but mo ...

(1823–1890), the first official botanist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture who also served during the Union Pacific Eastern Division's 1867 survey of the American Southwest. During his survey expeditions, he gathered various species previously unknown to the scientific community.

Description

''Lomatium parryi'' is a plant that grows from a

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 taproot ...

low to the ground, featuring small leaflets. The flowering stems are usually stout or and with hollow internodes. The plant grows 20 to 40 centimeters tall. The hairy, basal leaves are divided into many small segments. The yellow flowers, which are visible in late winter and early spring and are easily overlooked due to their tiny size, are borne in an umbrella-like pattern known as an "

umbel UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...

." The flowers exhibit 8 to 15 ray florets and five prominent stamens, all of them measuring just a few millimeters. Below each cluster of flowers at the end of the pedicels, you may find 3 to 8 bractlets, which can be either whole or divided.Southwest, T. A. (n.d.). ''Lomatium parryi, Parry’s biscuitroot''. The American Southwest. https://www.americansouthwest.net/plants/wildflowers/lomatium-parryi.html Like most other plants, the flowers are

pollinated Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; bird ...

by insects, which cause winged seeds to appear. The fruits are

schizocarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any Dry fruits, dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more ...

, which are flat and wide with lateral wings. They split into two halves, each one seeded. Lomatium parryi often retains its previous year's dead leaves and flower stalks, underscoring its resilience and ability to adapt over time.

Uses

''Lomatium parryi'' is a plant related to celery and carrots within the Apaceae family whose roots were harvested and consumed by early Native Americans. ''Lomatium parryi'' serves as a larval host plant for certain '' Papilio indra'' subspecies in their natural habitats and can be a food source in laboratory settings for rearing ''P. indra'' subspecies.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6669264 Edible Apiaceae Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Nevada Plants used in Native American cuisine Natural history of the Mojave Desert North American desert flora Herbs Taxa named by Sereno Watson Flora without expected TNC conservation status