biscuitroots

genus Lomatium

Member of carrot family (family Apiaceae)
dicots (class Magnoliopsida)
flowering plants (subphylum Angiospermae)

Except for historical records that I'm ignoring, there are no other wild species of this genus in the bay area.

Caution: IDs uncertain. I don’t really have these figured out. More field observation may be useful. I should probably also look into fruit characteristics as necessary.

Key features:

leaf segments few and large or many and small
stem present beneath compound umbel structure or not
peduncle distally swollen/inflated or not
corolla color

Leaf dissected, segments generally many, small, occasionally long but then narrow

woollyfruit desertparsley
Lomatium dasycarpum

plant generally with a definite stem; cauline leaves 0 or like basal
corolla [and calyx] tomentose
[possibly little or no sheathing on cauline leaf petioles, but CalPhotos doesn’t show them one way or another]
leaf segments 2–6 mm, generally linear [nubby]
pedicels 5–20 mm
corolla ± green-white or ± purple [or yellow??], tomentose
common in the Santa Cruz range, uncommon elsewhere

foothill desert-parsley
Lomatium utriculatum

plant generally with a definite stem, stem ± leafy
petals ± glabrous
cauline leaf petioles conspicuously sheathed (example)
leaf segments 2–25 mm, generally [distinctly] linear
pedicels 2–9 mm [which means the flowers are generally more tightly clustered in each inflorescence than in woollyfruit desertparsley (Lomatium dasycarpum)]
corolla yellow, occasionally white in age
common

bigseed biscuitroot
Lomatium macrocarpum

plant generally with a definite stem, stem leaves generally ≥ 2
leaf segments 1–7 mm, linear to oblong [flat]
corolla white, cream or ± purple
pedicels 1–14 mm
bractlets several, ≥ flowers, ± fused, reflexing
scattered

alkali desertparsley
Lomatium caruifolium var. caruifolium

plant stem ± 0, cauline leaves 0, occasionally 1 or more at base of short stem
leaf segments thread-like to linear, long, not crowded; herbage green, shiny or hairy [source]
uncommon, scattered

mount hamilton lomatium
Lomatium observatorium

plant stem ± 0, cauline leaves 0, occasionally 1 or more at base of short stem
leaf segments lanceolate or oblong to ovate (linear to thread-like), short, generally crowded; herbage generally glaucous or ± gray
possibly Grant

Leaf dissected or compound, segments or leaflets generally few, generally large, generally wide

california lomatium
Lomatium californicum

peduncle distally not swollen, not inflated; rays occasionally webbed at base into prominent disk
uncommon, scattered

barestem biscuitroot
Lomatium nudicaule

peduncle distally swollen, inflated
Grant, Coe

5 observed taxons / 2 unobserved taxons / 1 key

Chris’s observations: 38 (27 are research grade)

Locations:

Edgewood Park & Natural Preserve: 11
Henry Coe SP: 8
Sierra Azul OSP: 4
Máyyan 'Ooyákma Coyote Ridge OSP: 3
Santa Teresa CP: 3
Coyote Lake / Harvey Bear Ranch CP: 2
Sunol Wilderness RP: 2
Los Trancos OSP
Monte Bello OSP
Pacheco SP
Pinnacles NP
Sweeney Ridge National Recreation Area

Months:

Feb.: 3
Mar.: 11
Apr.: 18
May: 6

For more details, use advanced search.

Not all sites include this taxon:

genus Lomatium → iNaturalist – Calflora – Jepson eFlora
not yet listed → FNA

Bay Area species: iNaturalist – Calflora