Bitterroot
Bitterroot blooms in our area but it seems to be confined to a corridor from Cache Creek to Spences Bridge. We have photographed them mostly in the Ashcroft area in late May.
- Lewisia redviva is a perennial in the purslane family.
- A woody base with short stalks (2-3 cm) grow from a long and deep fleshy taproot (up top 30 cm long).
- The flowers are mostly pink and showy with 15 narrow petals and 5-9 sepals.
- The flowers only open in the sun and only last for 2-3 days.
- The mostly linear, succulent leaves are found at the base but may already be withering by the time the blooms appear.
- All photos were taken by the author. Click an image for a larger picture and a caption.
- Dark brown shiny seeds form in capsules after flowering.
- A number of First Nations groups gathered, stored, and ate the roots over the winter.
- The plant was named after Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clarke). A biography titled “Bitterroot: The Life and Death of Meriwether Lewis” deals with his mysterious (and bitter) death in 1809.
- Lewis and Clark tried the prepared root while in Montana in 1806 (at the confluence of the Bitterroot River and the Lolo River) and wrote that it was too bitter for their tastes.
- Bitterroot is now the state flower of Montana.
- The Nlaka’pamux people of the Lower Thompson River used the root as a food source and medicinal use. See The Ethnobotany and Descriptive ecology of Bitterroot (lewisia redviva) in the Lower Thompson Valley (Bandiranga, UBC).
- Bitterroot also grows in the Southern Okanagan and the Southern Columbia Valley in B.C. We have also spotted it in the Central Washington Scablands.
- Bitterroot can be dug up and transplanted in the dormant season and is easily grown from seeds,
When we hike in the open and rocky hills of the area we are always surprised to see the bitterroot flowers emerging from what looks like infertile, barren soil. In many cases, the bases are leaves are “invisible” below the flowers so all we see is a delicate blossom on mostly bare ground. This is a highlight sighting for us in May and we purposely hike some of these areas in hopes of spotting the bitterroot.
Appreciated the historical and botanical information you’ve provided about this lovely flower. Great pictures too – the petals appearing so delicate as if made of tissue paper.