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Lomatium nudicaule

Lomatium nudicaule: Flower
Photo by Derrick Ditchburn. High resolution version

Common name:	Pestle Parsnip	Family:	Umbelliferae
Author:	(Pursh.)Coult.& Rose.	Botanical references:	60
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Western N. America - South British Columbia to California.
Habitat:	Dry open or lightly wooded areas at low to moderate elevations[60]
Edibility Rating (1-5):	4	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Cogswellia nudicaulis[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Barestem Biscuitroot [P], Indian-consumption-plant [B], Pestle Lomatium [H],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Apiales. Renamed to Apiaceae -- Carrot family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Canada(Kwakiutl) Canada(Salish)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.6m by 0.6m . . The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 4/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves Root Stem Tea.

Root - raw or cooked[207]. The taste is rather like a hot spicy parsnip[207]. The root can be roasted and used as a vegetable, or can be dried and ground into a powder then used as a flavouring in soups etc[105, 161].
Leaves and young shoots - eaten as a vegetable or used as a celery-like flavouring in soups etc[177, 183, 257].
The leaves, stems and flowers are infused and used as a beverage[161, 183, 257].
Seed - raw or cooked[257]. The immature seed is chewed as a refreshing snack and can be used as a flavouring in soups etc[257].
The vitamin C content of young plants is remarkably high, one cup providing more than the recommended daily allowance[183]. (the part of the plant is not referred to, it is probably the leaves)

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Analgesic Diaphoretic Febrifuge Laxative Pectoral Poultice.

The seeds are analgesic, diaphoretic, febrifuge, laxative and pectoral[257]. They have been chewed in the treatment of fevers, colds and sore throats[257]. An infusion has been used by pregnant women to ensure an easy delivery[257]. A poultice of the crushed seeds has been applied to the head to relieve the pain of headaches[257]. The poultice has also been applied to sore places, pains and itches[257].

Other Uses

Incense Repellent.

The seed is spicy and aromatic, it is used as a house fumigant and deodorant. It also repels mosquitoes[99].

Cultivation details

Requires a sunny position in a fertile well-drained soil[188].
Plants are frost hardy[188].
This is a taxonomically very difficult genus, many of the species now included in it have at times been included in other genera[60].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame[188]. Stored seed can be rather slow to germinate, when sown in the spring it usually takes at least 12 months to germinate. Giving it a period of cold stratification might reduce this time. The seedlings need to be pricked out into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle, and should be planted out into their permanent positions in the summer.
Fresh seed can be sown immediately in situ[188].
Division may be possible in spring or autumn.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[60] Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955
A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.

[99] Turner. N. J. Plants in British Columbian Indian Technology. British Columbia Provincial Museum 1979 ISBN 0-7718-8117-7
Excellent and readable guide.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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