Lomatium marginatum var. marginatum

Butte desertparsley

Family: Apiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Butte desertparsley is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Rocky Forest, northern Coast Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada Foothills, northern Sierra Nevada, and Sacramento Valley, growing on serpentine slopes in chaparral at elevations of 250 to 1,000 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces yellow flowers in delicate umbrella-like clusters with rays 1.5 to 10 centimeters long and individual flower stalks 2 to 6 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems emerging from a taproot, it forms low-spreading clumps characteristic of desert parsleys. Its finely divided leaves are deeply dissected into narrow, thread-like segments, creating a lacy, intricate foliage pattern typical of the Lomatium genus. The plant's adaptation to serpentine soils and compact growth form make it well-suited to its challenging high-elevation habitat.

Habitat: Serpentine slopes, generally chaparral

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 250-1000 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRF, NCoRI, n&ampc SNF, n SNH, ScV.

California counties: Nevada, Shasta, Butte, Yuba, Tehama, El Dorado, Mariposa, Calaveras, Fresno, Napa, Lake, Sacramento, Solano

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