Fernleaf Biscuit Root Seeds (Lomatium dissectum)

An ancient and modern herbal remedy and wild food plant.

Extremely long-lived and very early blooming – Fernleaf biscuit root sometimes flowers shortly after snowmelt, showing up as one of the first wildflowers where it naturally occurs. This super early bloom makes it a favorite plant of the earliest emerging wild bees – various small Andrena and Microandrena.

Yet fernleaf biscuit root is most well-known as an herbal supplement (typically just labeled “Lomatium”) mass marketed for numerous health claims. This plant’s use as a natural medicine is ancient, with well documented use by native people both for healing properties, and as a wild vegetable with large fleshy taproots that can be roasted or boiled.

This is a tall-ish plant, the largest of the Lomatium genus,sometimes growing over a meter in height. Graced by bright yellow or maroon flower umbels, the foliage and seeds smell of fennel, celery, or caraway.

Fernleaf biscuit root generally prefers well drained upland soils, and can persist in both dry inland climates and coastal areas with more extensive rainfall. This is a very widespread plant, occurring across western North America from southern BC and Alberta, southward into California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Approximately 100+ seeds (2.0 grams).