ID request. Tiny white flowers

16 years ago

I went hiking last Sunday to try and find Dicentra uniflora. I did not find any of the target flowers, but I did find what I think is Lomatium grayi or close relative. I also found a small plant with tiny white flowers. It was still snowy in the area. The entire plant was no bigger than 2". I have tried finding it in guide books and on the USDA plant database. I have not been able to find anything that looks like this at all. I did not dig it up, but I think it was growing from a bulb. About the only thing I know about it is it is a monocot with tiny white flowers. I was hoping somebody on this site might be able to identify it or help me figure out the family or genera. Here is a picture of it.

Here is a picture of the Lomatium grayi?

Just in case you were wondering, the user name was supposed to be BrianUT not bri-a-nut LOL

Thanks

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Comments (8)

terrestrial_man
16 years ago
Brian,
This plant sure reminds me of something but cannot pull it out of my memory. BUT! Found this great site on the plants of UTAH. Check the link below. Though I do not live in UTAH I am definitely saving the home page of this site as it lists Selaginellaceae which I am studying.
(see my pages at Photobucket: Selaginella web journals

I am thinking Liliaceae for it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Liliaceae of UTAH
brianut
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for your response. I couldn't get that link to work, but I have been to that site before and will take a closer look at it tomorrow. I searched through each of the available genera on the wikipedia in the family Liliaceae and didn't see any that looked like it. I was thinking the family might be Hyacinthaceae, but didn't see any in that either. There were plenty of genera that did not have pictures though.

Brian
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carol23_gw
16 years ago
I asked a rock gardening friend about your first plant.
It's Orogenia linearifolia, Indian Potato, an umbellifer.
He remarked about how wonderful your picture is!

He may be able to get a positive ID on the Lomatium. He'll ask an expert on the flora of Utah.

Here is a link that might be useful: Indian potato
Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
16 years ago
Hi Brian, not a nut...LMAO.

Just wanted to say how pretty your flowers and pics are. I fairly recently (a year) ago first became interested in wildflowers, so I have not seen those b4.

Sue
brianut
Original Author
16 years ago
Boy was I off on my guess.

Thanks Carol! I added my photo to the Orogenia linearifolia page here on gardenweb Orogenia linearifolia. I looked at another site, but I think that plant shown is actually O. fusiformis Orogenia linearifolia? what do you think?.

If the location helps to verify the species of Lomatium then let them know it was in the Stansbury Mountain range, Tooele County, UT.

Thanks for the comments chemocurl. I am just getting into wildflowers myself and have a ton to learn.

Brian
carol23_gw
16 years ago
Brian, it could well be fusiformis. I'm not sure there is enough foliage showing on your picture as it looks like the plant is just emerging.

Like you, I was surprised it was in Apiaceae.

I'll forward the location of the Lomatium to my friend.
Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Orogenia fusiformis
terrestrial_man
16 years ago
The UTAH site only lists this one species.
Glad to see it ided as it is hard to see that it is an
umbelliferours species!!

The site is Southern Idaho vascular plants

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1054468}}
brianut
Original Author
16 years ago
Carol, you are right, I was thinking that the linearifolia meant that it only has single line-like leafs. Given a little more time to grow the ternite and perhaps even biternate (I had to looks those up) condition of the foliage would be much more apparent. Looking closer at my photo I see that the smaller leaves could easily be attached to the larger leaves. I will have to go back and see if I can can get a series of shots at different stages. Would leaflets be the proper term or is that reserved for compound leaves? That link you provided helped, especially with the first photo of a newly emerged plant. These just pop out of the ground a-bloomin!

Terrestrial man, I am going to have to save that southern idaho site as a favorite. I like that vascular plants of Utah site as well and use it often. I just wish they had photos on that site rather than providing links. Another great site that I came across while researching Dicentra uniflora is the UVSC virtual herbarium. Here is a link that shows a couple specimens of Orogenia linearifolia. Orogenia linearifolia

Brian