Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Perennial, 30-120 cm tall; stems solitary, glabrous (except for the inflorescence); roots tuberous-thickened with some fibrous.

Leaves: Basal and cauline, alternate, compound, ovate in outline, 5-20 cm long, usually twice-pinnate below and once- pinnate above, ultimate leaflets in 2-5 pairs, pinnately cleft, 1-3.5 cm long; petiole 2-23 cm long, from an expanded and sheathing base.

Flowers: Inflorescence of several to many compound umbels, with 15-26 rays, each 1.5-6 cm long, involucre bracts lacking or few, linear, 1 cm long; pedicels 3-10 mm long, subtended by about 6 bractlets, linear or deltoid, 1-4 mm long, purplish to light yellow-green; calyx teeth 0.5 mm long, light green with light margins; petals white, with notched tips; stamens white; styles 0.5-1 mm long

Fruits: Schizocarp, elliptic, dorsally compressed, 3.5-6 mm long, with narrow corky wings on the margins, and dorsal ribs that are raised but not winged.

Ecology: Streamsides, mountain meadows, often among sedges and grasses; 2300-3200 m (7,500-10,500 ft); flowers July-September.

Distribution: Found in Apache, Coconino, and Navajo counties; southwestern U.S.

Notes: Ligusticum porteri is similar to Conioselinum scopulorum, but differs by its distinctly ternately pinnate leaves; laterally flattened fruit; terminal umbel often subtended by opposite or whorled umbels; and a taproot.

Ethnobotany: The Navajo use it as a postpartum blood purifier, and an infusion is also used as a snake repellent.

Editor: Springer et al. 2008