Lomatium grayi has glabrous stems that split at the ground, and a long, thick taproot. The dark-green leaves are numerously divided.[4] It flowers from March to July with 1–20 compound umbels, each with hundreds of yellow flowers,[3][5] upon leafless stalks.[4] The fruit is glabrous, elliptic, 8–15 mm long, with the lateral wings about half as wide as the body.[6] The plant has a strong odor resembling parsley.[4]
Varieties
Lomatium grayi var. depauperatum (M.E. Jones) Mathias; endemic to northeastern Nevada and northwestern Utah.[7]
A 2018 study has proposed splitting L. grayi into four species, based on morphometric analysis: Lomatium klickitatense in Klickitat County, Washington and surrounding areas; Lomatium papilioniferum in the rest of the Pacific Northwest; Lomatium depauperatum (formerly L. grayi var. depauperatum) in western Utah and eastern Nevada; and Lomatium grayi s.s. in the western Rocky Mountains and adjoining basins.[9]
Uses
The plant was used as a food source by the Northern Paiute people in Oregon; new tender stems were eaten raw, and the roots were a winter starvation food.[10]
