''Lomatium engelmannii'' is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the

carrot family Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plan ...

known by the common name Engelmann's desertparsley, or Engelmann's lomatium. It is native to the Klamath Mountains of southern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it is a member of the local

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

s flora.

Description

''Lomatium engelmannii'' is a perennial herb growing 10 to 30 centimeters tall from a slender taproot. It lacks a stem, producing upright

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s and leaves from ground level. The leaves are up to about 30 centimeters long and are intricately divided into many lance-shaped segments. The inflorescence is an

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

of purplish flowers, the clusters on spreading rays up to 13 centimeters long.

External links

Calflora Database: ''Lomatium engelmannii'' (Engelmann's desertparsley, Engelmann's lomatium)Jepson eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Lomatium engelmannii''USDA Plants Profile for ''Lomatium engelmannii''UC CalPhotos gallery of ''Lomatium engelmannii''
engelmannii Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of the Klamath Mountains Endemic flora of the United States Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Taxa named by Mildred Esther Mathias Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Apiaceae-stub