Lomatium lucidum

Shiny biscuitroot

Family: Apiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Shiny biscuitroot is a California native perennial found in southern California coastal areas, the San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardno Mountains, and San Jacinto Mountains in chaparral habitats, especially recently burned areas, at elevations of 450 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces distinctive yellow flowers in complex umbels with 10 to 20 rays spreading across 3 to 8 centimeters. Growing 15 to 120 centimeters tall with a slender taproot and glabrous green stems, it develops a short stem base that is not fibrous. Its leaves are broadly triangular-ovate, 4 to 12 centimeters wide, with 1 to 2 ternate divisions and leaflets that are oblong to obovate, typically 1.5 to 5 centimeters long and coarsely sharp-dentate with three-lobed margins. The fruit is wide-elliptic to round, 10 to 15 millimeters long with prominent wings that are significantly wider than the fruit body.

Habitat: Chaparral, especially on burns

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 450-1500 m

Bioregions: SCo, SnGb, SnBr, SnJt

California counties: Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Mariposa, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Kern, Alpine

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.