About Lomatium columbianum Mathias & Constance
Lomatium columbianum is a bushy plant that reaches up to 2 meters in height. It has extensively divided stems and leaves that are glaucous, most often a blue-green shade; its finely textured foliage also carries this blue-green color. Stems grow erect from a thick, woody taproot that measures 30 to 60 centimeters long. Stems are generally leafless, though it is not uncommon to see a single leaf on a stem. Leaves themselves grow 15 to 30 centimeters in length.
Its inflorescence is an umbel with 10 to 20 rays, reaching 10 to 12 centimeters in length when mature. The flowers are held in clusters on thick, fleshy stems that grow from the base of the plant, and petals are most often reddish-purple, but may also be yellow. The mature fruit of this species measures between 16 and 28 millimeters in length.
This species is native to the lower Columbia River basin in Washington and Oregon. It grows in dry rocky soils in full sun, most often found on basalt outcrops and in shrub-steppe habitats, at elevations ranging from 100 feet to 3700 feet.
