Bitterroot. a member of the portulaca family, is a smooth, low- 

 growing, succulent perennial herb, which bears large, conspicuous, 

 and attractive blossoms during the spring. The old settlers, trans- 

 lating the vernacular names of the Indians, called the plant bitter- 

 root because of the bitter taste of the roots. These plants were given 

 the scientific name Lewisia in honor of the illustrious Capt. Meri- 

 wether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark exploring expedition into the 

 Northwest. Although the species occurs from British Columbia to 

 New Mexico and California, it is best known in Montana, where it is 

 the State flower and where the Bitterroot Mountains, the Bitterroot 

 Valley, and the Bitterroot National Forest are named in its honor. 

 Bitterroot is occasionally known as redhead Louisa. It was called 

 spatlum by the Flatheads and konah by the Snakes. 



Bitterroot plants are small and the leaves dry up and vanish as 

 soon as the flowers appear. The species has no forage significance. 

 The roots, which formerly were important in the dietary of the 

 Indians, are still used to a considerable extent. The early explorer 

 Geyer wrote : a "The root is dug during flower-time, when the cuticle 

 is easily removed ; by that it acquires a white colour, is brittle, and by 

 transportation broken to small pieces. Before boiling, it is steeped 

 in water, which makes it swell, and after boiling it becomes five to 

 six times larger in size ; resembling a jelly like substance. As it is so 

 small a root, it requires much labour to gather a sack, which com- 

 mands generally the price of a good horse. Indians from the lower 

 regions trade in this root by handfuls, paving a high price." And 

 Granville Stuart states: 2 "It is very nutritious, but has an exceed- 

 ingly bitter taste, hence its name. I never could eat it, unless very 

 hungry, but many of the mountaineers are very fond of it." 



Bitterroot grows on gravelly benches, river bars, and prairies at 

 lower elevations and on stony slopes and open ridges at high eleva- 

 tions in the mountains, its thick fleshy taproot creeping down and 

 anchoring in the crevices of the rocks. The fleshy, cylindrical, some- 

 times club-shaped leaves form basal tufts whence arise the short, 

 leafless, jointed flower stalks. The black and shiny seeds are borne 

 in a capsule which splits into an upper and lower part. 



1 Geyer, C. A. NOTES ON THE VEGETATION AND GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE MISSOURI 



AND OREGON TERRITORIES, MADE DURING A BOTANICAL JOURNEY FROM THE STATE OP MIS- 

 SOURI, ACROSS THE SOUTH-PASS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, TO THE PACIFIC, DURING THE 



YEARS 1843 AND 1844. Jour. Bot. [London] 5 : 285310. 1846. 



2 Stuart, G. MONTANA AS IT is ; BEING A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ITS RESOURCES, 



BOTH MINERAL AND AGRICULTURAL, INCLUDING A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE FACE OF 



THE COUNTRY, ITS CLIMATE, ETC. . . . 175 pp. New York. 1865. 



