Lomatium cous

• Biscuitroot

Uses

Toxic parts

None but may be mistaken for other toxic plants.

Edible uses

Notes

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.

Material uses

Medicinal uses(Warning!)