Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Alpine Oreoxis
Oreoxis alpina
Carrot family (Apiaceae)

Clusters of these dwarf Apiaceae line trails at 10,000'+, yet they are so minute that they go unnoticed. Like many of the Parsley Family, Parsley can be difficult to distinguish from other closely related species, such as Oreoxis bakeri. The two species of Oreoxis are very similar in habitat and morphology. The primary distinguishing characteristic is the structure of the : they taper to a point in O. while they are deeply in O. bakeri. Both species can be mistaken for Eastwood's Woodroot (Podistera eastwoodiae), but a careful look at the leaves of the latter will show them to be thin, bright green, and then again, and fan-shaped. Oreoxis leaves are generally thicker, once, and flattened, not fan-shaped. The flowers of Eastwood's Woodroot, are often a much brighter yellow, and the plant is often larger."Oros" is Greek for "mountains."


©2009 Barry Breckling

Description

Minute , 1-3" tall, growing from a branched (woody base of non-woody ). Flowerheads are wide-rounded to flat-topped, umbrella-like clusters (compound ) of yellow flowers. Leaves are , fine-cut fern-like with margins. are thin, green-purple, pointed and as long or longer than the flower clusters. Old leaf bases .

Field Marks

Minute plant with yellow umbrella-like flowers and finely-cut leaves.

© Al Schneider

An umbel is a collection of flowers on short stalks which spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The arrangement can vary from being flat-topped to almost spherical.

A leaf is compound when multiple leaflets are on the same stem.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

lobe -- Being divided by clefts.

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

Bracts are modified leaves associated with a flower.

Involucre is the name given to the circle or spiral collection of bracts around a flower-cluster.

persistent -- When the leaves of a plant fail to fall off in the fall they are persistent. Flowers that stay around after fruiting would be persistent.

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

pinnate -- A compound leaf with two rows of leaflets.

Cut deeply and (usually) unevenly (a condition intermediate between toothed and lobed).

caudex -- The woody stem base of some herbaceous perennials.

leaflets -- Each little leaf-like thing in a compound leaf is a leaflet.

alpine -- above the tree line. Thin soil, rocks, short growing season, frost, winter snow.