Plant Image
Flower head


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Ligusticum porteri - Porter's licorice-root

Synonyms: Ligusticum brevilobum
Other Common Names: Porter's wild lovage, osha, wild parsnip, wild celery, loveroot, wild parsley
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Apiaceae


   
 
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Plant
Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Fruit
Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Leaves
Sue Carnahan @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: CC BY-NC (Attribution-Non-Commercial)
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Perennial   Similar Species: Conioselinum scopulorum
General Desc: 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.
Identification notes: 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.
Height: To 4-1/4 feet


Habitat

Habitat Description: 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 Communities: Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Riparian
Elevation: 4500 - 9000 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: White     Shape: Regular in round clusters     Tubular: N     Flowering Period: Jun - Aug
Description: 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.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Green     Leaf Type: Simple     Leaf Shape: Pinnatifid     Leaf Margin: Dissected     Leaf Attachment: Basal and alternate     Leaves Clasp: N
Hairs: Stems     Spines: N
Leaf Description: 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.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Color: Reddish-green   
Fruit Notes: 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.
Seed Notes: 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.



  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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