MOUNTAIN CARAWAY, INDIAN PARSLEY

ALETES ACAULIS

Parsley Family, Apiaceae

Perennial herb

Erect plants to 14 inches tall have numerous leafy basal leaves and a leafless flower stalk (scape) longer than the leaves. Note the umbrella-shaped clusters of tiny yellow flowers, and leaves with parsley-like leaflets.

FLOWERS: April–August. Flower stem 2–11 inches long (5–27 cm) tipped with flat- to round-topped clusters (umbels) of tiny, yellow flowers. Clusters on tips of 5–18 umbrella-like spokes to 1 inch long (3 cm). Small, leaf-like bracts under the umbel and bractlets with entire margins under the flowering clusters. Fruit oblong, 1/4 inch long (7 mm), with corky-winged ribs (use lens).

LEAVES: Basal. Pinnately-compound blades to 4 inches long, midrib lined with lance shaped to broad leaflets to 3/8 inch long (10 mm) with pointed or toothed lobes.

HABITAT: Rocky, sandy soils, ledges, outcrops; ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, spruce-fir forests.

ELEVATION: 6,500–10,600 feet.

RANGE: CO, NM, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The rare Threadleaf Aletes, A. filifolius, in central and southern NM mountains, has narrow leaflets. Mountain Parsley, Cymopterus lemmonii, in mountains nearly statewide, has a leafy flower stalk.

NM COUNTIES: Central NM in mid- to high-elevation habitats.