Bitterroot

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Plant species in the springbeauty family

title: "Bitterroot" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lewisia", "flora-of-the-northwestern-united-states", "flora-of-the-southwestern-united-states", "plants-used-in-native-american-cuisine", "symbols-of-montana", "taxa-named-by-frederick-traugott-pursh", "flora-without-expected-tnc-conservation-status"] description: "Plant species in the springbeauty family" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitterroot" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Plant species in the springbeauty family ::

| image = Lewisia rediviva 9789.JPG | image_caption = Lewisia rediviva var. rediviva in Wenas Wildlife Area, Washington | status = | status_system = TNC | status_ref = | genus = Lewisia | species = rediviva | authority = Pursh | subdivision_ranks = Varieties | subdivision_ref = | subdivision = {{Species list | L. rediviva var. minor | | L. rediviva var. rediviva | | synonyms_ref = | synonyms = {{Collapsible list | {{Species list | Lewisia alba | Kellogg | Lewisia minor | Rydb. | Lewisia rediviva subsp. minor | (Rydb.) A.H.Holmgren

Bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) is a small perennial herb in the family Montiaceae. Its specific epithet rediviva ("revived, reborn") refers to its ability to regenerate from dry and seemingly dead roots.

The genus Lewisia was moved in 2009 from the purslane family (Portulacaceae) with adoption of the APG III system, to the family Montiaceae.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Bitterroot.jpg" caption="Bitterroot flower"] ::

Lewisia rediviva is a low-growing perennial plant with a fleshy taproot and a simple or branched base and a low rosette of thick fleshy linear leaves with blunt tips. The leaves are roughly circular in cross section, sometimes somewhat flattened on the adaxial (top) surface. The absence of an adaxial groove on the leaves distinguishes this from other Lewisia species with overlapping ranges. The leaves often wither before flowers open.

The very short flower stems are leafless, 1 - tall, bearing at the tip a whorl of 5–6 linear bracts which are 5–10 mm long. A single proportionally huge flower appears on each stem with 5–9 oval-shaped sepals and many petals. Each flower has between ten and nineteen petals that measure 15 to 35 mm long. They range in color from whitish to deep pink or lavender. Flowering occurs from April through July. At maturity, the bitterroot produces egg-shaped capsules with 6–20 nearly round seeds.

Distribution

The plant is native to western North America from low to moderate elevations on grassland, open bushland, forest in dry rocky or gravelly soils. Its range extends from southern British Columbia, through Washington and Oregon west of the Cascade Range to southern California, and east to western Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, northern Colorado and northern Arizona.

Uses

The thick roots come into season in spring and can survive extremely dry conditions. If collected early enough in the season, they can be peeled, boiled, and made into a jelly-like food.

History and culture

French trappers knew the plant as racine amère (bitter root). Native American names include spetlum/sp̓eƛ̓m̓ or spetlem ("hand-peeled"), nakamtcu (Ktanxa: naqam¢u),{{Cite web | title = FirstVoices: Ktunaxa words | access-date = 2012-07-08 | url = http://www.firstvoices.ca/en/Ktunaxa/word/63b51dec5cf5793e/Bitterroot | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130115131911/http://www.firstvoices.ca/en/Ktunaxa/word/63b51dec5cf5793e/Bitterroot | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 15, 2013

The roots were consumed by tribes such as the Shoshone and the Flathead Indians as an infrequent delicacy. Traditionally, the Ktunaxa cooked bitterroot with grouse. For the Ktunaxa, bitterroot is eaten with sugar; other tribes prefer eating it with salt.{{Cite web | last = Ashley Casimer | title = Nutrition: Ktunaxa People and the Traditional Food History | work = Aqam Community Learning Centre | access-date = 2012-07-08 | url = http://www.aqam.net/clc/nutrition/articles/traditional_diet.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091112173307/http://www.aqam.net/clc/nutrition/articles/traditional_diet.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2009-11-12

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Bitterroot,_Lewisia_rediviva_var._rediviva.jpg" caption="''L. rediviva var. rediviva'', Glass Mountain, [[Owens Valley]], California"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Lewisia_rediviva_iNat-153200132.jpg" caption="Before flowering"] ::

Meriwether Lewis ate bitterroot in 1805 and 1806 during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The specimens he brought back were identified and given their scientific name, Lewisia rediviva, by a German-American botanist, Frederick Pursh. | title = Trivia | BitterrootHeaven.com | access-date = 2012-07-08 | url = http://bitterrootheaven.com/trivia.html | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120415155730/http://bitterrootheaven.com/trivia.html | archive-date = 2012-04-15 Based on Lewis and Clark's manuscript, Pursh labeled it "spatlum"; this apparently was actually a Salishan name for "tobacco".

The bitterroot was selected as the Montana state flower in 1895.

Three major geographic features – the Bitterroot Mountains (running north–south and forming the divide between Idaho and Montana), the Bitterroot Valley, and the Bitterroot River (which flows south–north, terminating in the Clark Fork river in the city of Missoula) – owe the origins of their names to this flower.

References

References

  1. (28 February 2025). "''Lewisia rediviva''".
  2. "''Lewisia rediviva'' Pursh".
  3. "''Lewisia rediviva'' var. ''minor'' (Rydb.) Munz".
  4. "''Lewisia rediviva'' var. ''rediviva''".
  5. William Curtis. (1801). "The Curtis's botanical magazine".
  6. (2014). "''Lewisia rediviva''". Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
  7. (30 July 2020). "''Lewisia rediviva''".
  8. Sullivan, Steven. K.. (2015). "''Lewisia rediviva''".
  9. (2015). "''Lewisia rediviva''". United States Department of Agriculture; Natural Resources Conservation Service.
  10. (2015). "''Lewisia rediviva''". Burke Museum, University of Washington.
  11. Taylor, Ronald J.. (1994). "Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary". Mountain Press Pub. Co.
  12. Angier, Bradford. (1974). "Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants". Stackpole Books.
  13. [http://www.cdkc.edu/cheyennedictionary/index-english/main.htmm Cheyenne Dictionary]{{dead link. (July 2017)
  14. Bureau of American Ethnology. (1910). "Handbook of American Indians".
  15. Montana. Dept. of Public Instruction. (1929). "Montana Educational Directory".
  16. US Forest Service. (1909). "Names of National Forests with Their Origin, Definition, Or Derivation". Washington.

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lewisiaflora-of-the-northwestern-united-statesflora-of-the-southwestern-united-statesplants-used-in-native-american-cuisinesymbols-of-montanataxa-named-by-frederick-traugott-purshflora-without-expected-tnc-conservation-status