BITTER-ROOT (Leivtsia rediviva, Pursh.). Flowers some- 

 times 2 inches across, varying from white to rose, with 12 to 15 

 petals about an inch long, opening out in sunshine like a wheel, 

 and borne on a short one-flowered scape, jointed near the 

 middle. Stamens very numerous. Leaves thick, linear, an 

 inch or so long in a basal cluster. The whole plant sits quite 

 close to the ground, and blooms in the spring; in the moun- 

 tains, from Southern California (sparingly) to British Colum- 

 bia, and eastward through Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyom- 

 ing, Utah, and Arizona. Its fame in Montana has caused it to 

 be adopted there as the State flower. 



The large root of Lewisia is a conspicuous feature. This is 

 exceedingly bitter if bitten into (whence the common name) 

 but when properly cooked, as the Indians found out, is rich in 

 starch and can be made palatable. The name Leuisia was 

 given in honor of the leader of the famous Lewis and Clark 

 exploring party of 1804 to the Pacific Coast. The plant has 

 remarkable vitality, and the specimen upon which Pursh 

 based his description is said to have been planted after lying 

 for many months in a herbarium, after which it grew for a 

 year before dying. This suggested the specific name rediviva, 

 "that lives again." 



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