Lomatium cous

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Lomatium cous
Light:Full Sun
Moisture:Xeric Mesic
Soil pH:5.6-8.4
Self Pollinated
Native to:
Edible Rating:PFAF Edibility RatingPFAF Edibility RatingPFAF Edibility RatingPFAF Edibility Rating
Tea:Yes
Poisonous

Lomatium cous (common name: biscuitroot)

Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. 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.

Division may be possible in spring or autumn.

Cultivation: We have almost no information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it should succeed outdoors in much of the country.

It can be assumed that plants will require a dry to moist but well-drained soil in a sunny position.

Polymorphic[1].

This is a taxonomically very difficult genus, many of the species now included in it have at times been included in other genera[1].

Range: Western N. America.

Habitat: Dry often open rocky slopes and flats, often with sagebrush, especially in foothills and lowland, occasionally above the treeline[1].

Edibility: Root - raw or cooked[257. It is usually peeled before being eaten[2]. The root can be dried and ground into a powder and then be mixed with cereal flours or added as a flavouring to soups etc[3][4][5][6]. When dug up in the spring it has a parsnip-like flavour[7].

Seed[8]. No more details are given, though it is most likely used as an aromatic flavouring in cooked foods[K].

Pollinators: Insects

Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.

Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.

Flower Type: Hermaphrodite

Also Known As: L. montanum. Coult.&Rose.

Links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hitchcock, Leo. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, 1955.
  2. Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
  3. Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
  4. Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
  5. Saunders, Charles. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1976.
  6. Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
  7. Yanovsky, Elias. Food Plants of the North American Indians Publication 237. US Department of Agriculture.
  8. Coon, Nelson. The Dictionary of Useful Plants. Rodale Press, 1975.