(Jakutsk snowparsley)
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Photo of Cnidium cnidiifolium by Jacob Frank
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Jakutsk snowparsley is a loosely branched forb in the parsley family (Apiaceae) with an open umbel of white flowers, found on dry, warm open slopes and floodplain areas, primarily in the subalpine zone. The species has a woody underground caudex and a thick green or purplish stem growing 60 cm tall or higher. The leaves are 2-3 times pinnately divided into fine segments, shiny dark green, and
deltoid in outline. Lower leaves are long-
petioled, but the upper leaves are
sessile and reduced. The leaf bases sheath the stem, broadly inflated with dark veins, a characteristic of the Apiaceae family.
Cnidium cnidiifolium has
compound umbels: a primary head with many rays, each smaller head a rounded cluster of flowers. The terminal umbels are surrounded by a few small,
linear-
lanceolate bracts. The
perfect flowers are deep purple-red in bud, turning white to yellow. The flower has a fused
carpel, which develops into two fruits. Each half-fruit is tan-colored, flat on one side with 5 winged ribs on the other, and can be dispersed by wind or water. Jakutsk snowparsley could be confused with another member of the Apiaceae with pinnately divided leaves and umbels of white flowers,
Angelica lucida, but the leaf segments of that species are much broader and less finely divided.
Cnidium cnidiifolium is a perennial plant that flowers in mid-summer.
Cnidium cnidiifolium is
monoecious with bisexual flowers. Flowers are insect pollinated, likely by bees and flies. Seeds are dispersed by wind and gravity.
C. cnidiifolium is being commercially grown in Alaska in order to provide seed for revegetation projects (Hunt & Wright 2005). The species is a colonizer on gravelly soils. Swallowtail butterflies lay their eggs on Jakutsk snowparsley.
Disclaimer for Known Uses.
Jakutsk snowparsley has an amphi-Beringian range, occurring across the western half of Siberia, through Alaska and western Canada, reaching south to Manitoba in North America. In Alaska, this species is known from the North Slope, Brooks Range, Seward Peninsula and interior Alaska, particularly along river bluffs, but not reaching south of the Alaska Range. Cnidium cnidiifolium occurs sporadically in the northeastern foothills and mountains, as well as along the McKinley River in Denali.
Details are shown in the Plots & Charts found at right, depicting recent Denali data.
Within the Park, this species occurs at an elevational range of 266 m to 1668 m, with the average elevation at 743 m. The majority of specimens were found on steep slopes (above 28 degrees), and almost all localities were south-facing.
Details are shown in the Plots & Charts found at right. For more on how to interpret these figures, visit Understanding Data Presented.
In Denali, specimens have been found primarily on gravelly slopes.
Dry to moist sites.