Common Yampah Seeds (Perideridia gairdneri)

Members of this genus are some of the most well-known North American wild food plants. And common yampah is one of the most widespread, adaptable, and largest-rooted of the yampah species. There are extensive internet resources about the traditional food uses of this plant. Less available are good resources on how-to grow it, knowledge that once must have existed readily in some far off earlier analog time.

That said, in our limited experience so far, this sturdy perennial member of the carrot family is rather carefree, and will grow in wide variety of elevations, soil types, and drainage situations. It seems to like full sun and can even grow among tall meadow vegetation such as blue wild rye or big leaf lupine. We suspect that its scarcity in the wild is simply a matter of limited natural re-seeding opportunities among the neighboring vegetation that yampah keeps company with.

Yampah is slow growing for us (possibly because of our locally cool climate), but long-lived -- we know of plants that have probably been living for great ages. The foliage and flowers are carrot-like, and if you were driving by it and not paying attention, it’s a plant that you might mistake for queen Anne’s lace. As a robust and seemingly always healthy native perennial vegetable, it’s kind of astounding that this never became a more regular garden plant.

Approximately 80 seeds per packet. (0.2 grams).