description
Lomatium dissectum is a species of flowering plant in the Apiaceae family.
It is a perennial herb reaching up to 1.4 m tall and grows from a thick
taproot. Lomatium leaves are attached mostly near the base of the plant,
and they spread with petioles reaching up to 30 cm long with large blades divided
into many small, narrow segments. The inflorescence (complete flower head of a plant) is an umbel of many
small yellow or reddish flowers with each cluster forming on a ray up to 10 cm
long.
The fruits of the lomatium plant resemble pumpkin seeds.
common names & nomenclature
The name dissectum is in reference to the plant's finely divided or dissected leaves. The
common names that include “carrot” are due to the lomatium’s long tap root and its similarity to the carrot root vegetable.
Also known as:
fern-leafed lomatium, fern-leafed desert parsley, indian carrot,
chocolate-tips, cough root, fern leaf biscuitroot, lepotaenia, leptotaenia,
lomatium, desert parsley, desert parsnip, ferula dissoluta, indian parsnip,
tohza, toza, wild carrot