Author: xochipelli2012

Ethnobotany. A food for the Klamath, Paiute, Okanagan-Colville, Nez-Percés, Chinookan, Salish and Modoc Peoples. The peeled roots were eaten raw or pit cooked and boiled or dried for future use. According to Coville, Frederick V. in “Notes On The Plants Used By The Klamath Indians Of Oregon” (1897); to Turner, Nancy J., R. Bouchard and Dorothy I.D. Kennedy in “Ethnobotany of the Okanagan-Colville Indians of British Columbia and Washington, Victoria” (1980); to Mahar, James Michael in “Ethnobotany of the Oregon Paiutes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation” (1953); and to Kelly, Isabel T. in “Ethnography of the Surprise Valley Paiute” (1932).

David French and Eugene Hunn in their monography “Lomatium: a key resource for the Columbia Plateau Native Subsistence” (1981) explained that Lomatium canbyi was one the main 10 species of eaten Lomatium providing 30 % of the root food resources of the Native Peoples of Sahaptin languages in the north-west of the USA. In 1981, only 29 species of Lomatium were botanically described, for the Sahaptin spoken range, but most of them were known (if not named) by these Native Peoples – well the survivors as some of the Native Peoples of Sahaptin languages are extinct. Lomatium canbyi was named in Sahaptin “sikáywa”, “sikáwiya”, “lamuš”, “lúukš” and “škúlkul”. The roots of Lomatium canbyi  weigh in average 11 grams and one kilogram of fresh roots provide 1080 kcal. David French and Eugene Hunn calculated that a woman would need 400 hours of work to gather all the roots of Lomatium canbyi necessary for one year to sustain her family. 

Eugene Hunn and James Selam in their beautifuk book “Nch’i-wána, “the big river”: Mid-Columbia Indians and their land” write: «The third instance in which Sahaptin-speaking Indians surpass the professional botanist in discriminating Lomatiums remains something of a mystery. The species “split” in this case is Lomatium canbyi known as a key food source by Indians from northeastern California to southern British Columbia… Canby’s Lomatium is known by many Indian names having gained recognition in at least six Indian languages but northeast Sahaptin speakers are unique in dividing Canby’s Lomatium into two distinct folk species, “škúlkul” and “lamuš”. The first is described as the larger, its foliage more-fern like, its tuber distinctively shaped. Most important, the oil content of the “škúlkul” root is high, making sun-drying difficult. For this reason, “škúlkul” must be baked underground after the fashion of camas. “Lamuš”, smaller and less oily, is dried whole by stringing on a cord of Indian Hemp….»

Description. The plants of that species of tuberous lomatium are acaulescent and 7 to 25 cm high at maturity. Glabrous leafless scapes, ascending or suberect, arise from roots, of black color, which are globose with a base up to 4 cm in diameter surmounted by an elongate upper portion. The basal leaves are ternately and pinnately divided and dissected into very numerous ultimate leaf segments being 1 to 5 mm long and 0,5 to 1,3 mm wide with rounded or blunt apices. The leaf blades are 1 to 9 cm long, glabrous to gray-green glaucous and their general outline is oblong to ovate. The pinkish-purplish tinged petioles are wholly sheathing, scarious and with purple veins. The inflorescence is a glabrous compound umbel consisting of 5-16 rays which are from 1 cm to 6 cm long. The involucels are present. The free and linear bracts (3 to 7) are 1,5 to 4 mm long and 0,1 to 0,5 mm wide with acute to acuminate apices. Each umbellet consists of 10 to 20 flowers which have white petals with a smooth stylopodia and anthers of dark purple color (giving a purple cast) or, sometimes, of yellow color. The ovaries are glabrous. The broadly elliptic to ovate fruits – ligulate in cross-section – are 6-13 mm long and 4-7,5 mm wide and possess 1 to 3 oil canals in the intervals and 2 to 6 oil canals in the commissures. Their pedicels are 5-16 mm long at maturity. Their lateral wings are 1 to 2 mm wide.

Phenology. The flowering period is from mid-February through late April through June and the maturing of the fruits range from April to July.

Territories. Eastern-central Washington and eastern Oregon; northern California and Nevada: disjunct to Nez-Percé County in Idaho.

Ethnobotany. A food for the Montana, Oregon, Nez-Percé and the Okanagan-Colville Peoples. The spring roots were reduced to flour for future use or eaten fresh. With the Oregon People, the roots were eaten at the first feast of the new year which was called the Root Feast. According to Turner, Nancy J., R. Bouchard and Dorothy I.D. Kennedy in “Ethnobotany of the Okanagan-Colville Indians of British Columbia and Washington, Victoria” (1980); according to Murphey, Edith Van Allen in “Indian Uses of Native Plants” (1959); according to Jeff Hart in “Montana Native Plants and Early Peoples” and according to Blankinship, J. W. in “Native Economic Plants of Montana, Bozeman” (1905). It was named “racine blanche” by the French speaking Canadians. It was the second most important root for the Nez-Percé – the first being camas. They traded their Lomatium cous with the Flathead who did not enjoy this larger and more abundant biscuitroot – Lomatium cous being the most abundant edible lomatium in the northern Rocky Mountains region and one of the three main root staples, for the Native Peoples, with Camassia  quamash and Lewisia rediviva. 

The Native People dug the plants in the springtime, just after blooming. They peeled them to eat them fresh or boiled. Some of the roots were sun-dried and the rest was pulverized in a mush to make long cakes which were suspended on a frame of sticks to be partly baked above a fire. They were pierced with a hole to be attached to the horse-saddles. When properly dried and prepared, the biscuitroot cakes could keep for up to 2 years.

David French and Eugene Hunn in their monography “Lomatium: a key resource for the Columbia Plateau Native Subsistence” (1981) explained that Lomatium cous was one the main 10 species of eaten Lomatium providing 30 % of the root food resources of the Native Peoples of Sahaptin languages in the north-west of the USA. In 1981, only 29 species of Lomatium were botanically described, for the Sahaptin spoken range, but most of them were known (if not named) by these Native Peoples – well the survivors as some of the Native Peoples of Sahaptin languages are extinct. Lomatium cous was named “x̣áwš” in Sahaptin language and “qáamsit” (when fresh) and “qáaws” (when peeled and dried) in Nez-Percé language. The roots of Lomatium cous weigh in average 10 grams and one kilogram of fresh roots provide 1270 kcal. David French and Eugene Hunn calculated that a woman would need 400 hours of work to gather all the roots of Lomatium cous necessary for one year to sustain her family. 

Description. The plants of that species of tuberous lomatium are acaulescent or caulescent and 10 to 35 cm high at maturity. The roots, of black color, are elongate and slender or, sometimes, tuberous – and up to 8 cm in length and 4 cm in width. The leaf blades are 2 to 14 cm long, glabrous, glaucous and often scaberulous and their general outline is oblong to obovate. The leaves are ternately or pinnately divided and dissected – the ultimate leaf segments being linear, 1 to 12 mm long and 0,5 to 3 mm wide with mucronulate or apiculate apices. The green to purple tinged petioles are sheathing for half of the length of the basal leaves and only at the base of the cauline leaves. The inflorescence is a glabrous to scaberulous umbel consisting of 5 to 20 rays which are 1 to 11 cm long. The bracts (4 to 12) are free or fused on a little segment of their length, narrowly to broadly obovate, 2 to 5 mm long and 1 to 3 mm wide. Each umbellet consists of 10 to 20 flowers which are all yellow: petals, anthers and stylopodia (punctuated by small vacities). The ovaries are glabrous to granular. The oblong to broadly elliptic fruits, with a lingulate cross-section, are 5-12 mm long and 2-6 mm wide and possess 1 to 4 oil canals in the intervals and 4 to 7 oil canals in the commissures. Their pedicels are 1-5 mm long at maturity. Their lateral wings are 0,4 to 1,7 mm wide.

Description. Perennial species with one to several flower scapes rising 10-30 cm high from a cluster of basal leaves and from an elongate taproot and usually simple, subterranean crown. The foliage is glaucous. The leaves are pinnately or ternate-pinnately once to twice compound – the ultimate segments being leaf-like, toothed or cleft. The flowers are white, yellow or ochroleucous. The inflorescence is an umbel composed of 4 to 16 rays of 2-7 cm of length. The pedicels are 2-15 mm long. The fruits are dark purplish in color, oblong to broadly elliptic, 6-16 mm long with the wings equaling or narrower than the body and with prominent dorsal and intermediate ribs.