''Sanicula graveolens'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Apiaceae 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 plants ...

known by the common names northern sanicle and Sierra blacksnakeroot. It is native to western North America from

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

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 ...

, and southern South America, including southern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Its habitat includes mountain slopes, forests, and woodlands on

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. It is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

producing a slender, branching stem up to half a meter tall from a

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

, with leaves alternate. The lowest leaves have long stalks and are often attached below ground. The upper leaves are smaller, sparse and often sessile. The leaves are compound, the blades each divided into three deeply lobed, toothed leaflets. The herbage is green to purple-tinged to all purple in color. The

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 ...

is made up of one or more

heads A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may no ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and male-only flowers with tiny, curving, yellow petals. Each head has an array of narrow, toothed

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s at its base. The rounded fruits are a few millimeters long, covered in curving prickles, and borne in small clusters.

External links

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Calflora Database: ''Sanicula graveolens'' (Northern sanicle, Sierra sanicle)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Sanicula graveolens''USDA Plants ProfileWashington Burke MuseumU.C. Photos gallery of ''Sanicula graveolens'' images
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7418275 graveolens Flora of Argentina Flora of British Columbia Flora of California Flora of Chile Flora of Nevada Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Klamath Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Taxa named by Eduard Friedrich Poeppig Flora without expected TNC conservation status