Sanicula crassicaulis explained

Sanicula crassicaulis is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common names Pacific black-snakeroot and Pacific sanicle.

Description

It is a perennial herb producing a thick stem up to 1.2 meters tall from a taproot. The leaves have blades up to 13 centimeters long which are divided into a few deep lobes and edged with small teeth. The inflorescence is made up of one or more heads of bisexual and male-only flowers with tiny, curving, yellow petals (var. tripartita flowers may range from yellow, brown, or purple). Each head has approximately five leaflike, lance-shaped bracts at its base. The rounded fruits are a few millimeters long, covered in curving prickles, and borne in small clusters.^[1]

Distribution and habitat

Sanicula crassicaulis has an amphitropical distribution and is native to the west coast of North America and southern South America.^[2]

In North America, it ranges from British Columbia to Baja California, where it can be found in many types of habitat, including mountain slopes, grassland, and woodlands.^{[3] [4]} In South America, it ranges from Coquimbo Region to Los Lagos Region in Chile, and Chubut Province, Neuquén Province, and Mendoza Province in Argentina.^[5] It is also introduced to the Juan Fernández Islands, where it is invasive.^[6]

Taxonomy

There are two varieties:^{[7] [8]}

• Sanicula crassicaulis var. crassicaulis (Poepp. ex. DC.) – Pacific sanicle – British Columbia to California; west of the Cascades and east in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington.
• Sanicula crassicaulis var. tripartita (Suksdorf) H. Wolff – Three-parted Pacific sanicle – southwestern British Columbia to Klickitat County in Washington; west of the Cascades and east in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington.

External links

• Calflora Database: Sanicula crassicaulis (Pacific blacksnakeroot, Pacific sanicle, Gamble weed)
• Jepson Manual Treatment
• USDA Plants Profile
• Washington Burke Museum
• U.C. Photos gallery

Notes and References

1. Web site: E-Flora BC Atlas Page Sanicula crassicaulis . 2024-06-30 . linnet.geog.ubc.ca.
2. Constance . Lincoln . 1963 . Introduction and Historical Review . The Quarterly Review of Biology . 38 . 2 . 109–116 . 0033-5770.
3. Web site: Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria Query: Sanicula crassicaulis . 2024-06-30 . www.pnwherbaria.org.
4. Web site: OregonFlora Sanicula crassicaulis . 2024-06-30 . oregonflora.org.
5. Book: Catálogo de las plantas vasculares del Cono Sur. volumen 2 : Dicotyledoneae: Acanthaceae - Fabaceae (Abarema - Schizolobium) . 2008 . Missouri Botanical Garden Press . 978-1-930723-70-2 . Zuloaga . Fernando O. . Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden . 2 . St. Louis, Mo . 1088 . 294820637 . Morrone . Osvaldo . Belgrano . Manuel J. . Missouri Botanical Garden . Instituto de Botánica Darwinion (San Isidro, Argentina).
6. Web site: 25 March 2011 . Sanicula crassicaulis . 10 June 2024 . Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER) . Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry.
7. Web site: NatureServe Explorer 2.0 Sanicula crassicaulis Pacific Black-snakeroot . 2024-06-30 . explorer.natureserve.org.
8. Web site: Sanicula crassicaulis - Burke Herbarium Image Collection . 2024-06-30 . burkeherbarium.org.