Biscuitroot (Lomatium cous) — Practical Plants

Taxonomy and growth

Family: Umbelliferae
Genus: Lomatium
Life cycle: perennial
Fertility: self fertile
Flower type: hermaphrodite
Pollinators: Insects

Uses

Edible uses

is called cous (sounds like "cows" with a softer 's' sound) or cous cous by the Nez Perce in Idaho and Washington. It is also known as "biscuit root". It was one of the most basic and prized food items in the tribe's diet and was widely traded with other Northwestern US tribes. The Nez Perce would camp every year near the cous fields until they had their yearly supply. Cakes were made of the dried meal for long journeys. Often the roots were baked in underground pits and eaten like potatoes, but the primary use was for coarse flour or meal. The name "biscuit root" is descriptive: the root was the prime use of the plant, though the seeds could be used. It created a flour that was virtually tasteless, much like white wheat flour. Eaten also like potatoes, they had little taste by themselves. While other roots were available, the cous roots are large in comparison to most others and numerous locally. Many of the plants are in very rocky, dry soil which often makes it difficult to dig for them, however. The cous spreads easily in poor and dry soil where few other plants will grow, so it often presents a striking field of yellow in spring.

Plant part: Root
Preparation: pounded and dried for flour, roasted, boiled as potatoes
Product or use: flour

Plant part: Seed
Product or use: grain

Environment

Range: Western N. America.
Habitat: Dry often open rocky slopes and flats, often with sagebrush, especially in foothills and lowland, occasionally above the treeline^[6].
Light: full sun
Shade tolerance: no shade
Water: moderate
Soil textures: sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH: acid, neutral, alkaline
Drainage: well drained
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil: No
Drought: intolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed can be rather slow to germinate, when sown in the spring it usually takes at least 12 months to germinate. Giving it a period of cold stratification might reduce this time. The seedlings need to be pricked out into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle, and should be planted out into their permanent positions in the summer. Fresh seed can be sown immediately in situ. Division may be possible in spring or autumn.

Cultivation