Scientific Family
Apiaceae
Synonyms
Ligusticum brevilobum
Other common names
Porter's wild lovage
osha
wild parsnip
wild celery
loveroot
wild parsley
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Similar species
Conioselinum scopulorum
Height
To 4-1/4 feet
Riparian
Yes
Perennial to over 4 feet tall with 1 to many thick stems that are smooth to covered with a layer of fine hairs. Fern-like green leaves curve upward to over 1-1/2 feet. White umbrella-shaped flower heads grow in numerous rounded clusters on tall stalks.
Fibrous root crown; tap-rooted; stems stout; pinnate leaves to 20 inches long with 3 parts, each part is further divided into lobes; terminal and axillary, multiple white flower clusters per umbel-like flower groups; fruit ribbed, laterally flattened.
Habitat
Often grows in dense stands on slopes and mountainsides in aspen or coniferous forests, in woodland areas with rich, moist soils and streambanks. It may also be found in meadows with drier rocky soils.
Plant Community
Riparian
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Low elevation
4500
High elevation
9000
Flower Characteristics
Each tiny flower is 1/16 to 1/4 inch wide and has 5 petals with small leaf-like sepals beneath it. The flowers are grouped in numerous rounded clusters which have an umbrella-like shape and are known as "umbels". They open to 4 inches wide when mature.
Flower color
White
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
June
Last bloom month
August
Flower clusters
Rounded
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stem leaves grow from 6 to 20 inches long and are oval in outline. These leaves have deeply divided lance-shaped leaf segments growing to almost 2 inches wide and usually have no stalks. The larger basal leaves have stalks that grow up to 12 inches long.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Pinnatifid
Leaf margin
Dissected
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
The fruit is a shizocarp (a dry fruit that splits into several single-seeded parts). It is smooth, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, oblong to round and flattened on its sides with thin, narrow, vein-like ribs on its surface.
Fruit type
Other
Fruit color
Reddish-green
The shizocarp consists of 2 united sections (carpels) each containing 1 seed. At maturity, the carpels separate into individual sections which do not open to release the seeds.