Cymopterus aboriginum
Indian parsnip
Family: Apiaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Indian parsnip is a California native perennial found in the White and Inyo Mountains and eastern desert mountains on rocky mountain slopes at elevations of 1,500 to 2,850 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces delicate white flowers in small clusters with linear bractlets. Growing with finely hairy, gray-green foliage without a distinct stem, it reaches heights of 1 to 3.5 centimeters. Its leaves have petioles 2 to 13 centimeters long, with blades 1 to 4.5 centimeters wide that are intricately divided into linear segments 2 to 8 millimeters long. The fruit is an oblong to ovate structure 6 to 11 millimeters long with nearly equal ribs and wings twice the width of its body.
Habitat: Rocky mountain slopes
Bloom period: Apr-Jun
Elevation: 1500-2850 m
Bioregions: W&I, DMtns
California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Mono
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.