| Positive | kennedyh | On Apr 9, 2003, kennedyh from Churchill, Victoria
(Australia)
(Zone 10a) wrote:Baa's notes on Lewsia pygmaea, which I saw in the wild in British Columbia, inspired me to add the other Lewsia species which grows in British Columbia.
This plant is known as Bitterroot, and the roots were an important food to the Interior peoples, but Europeans found them excessively bitter.
The plants grow in full sun in dry stony ground. The leaves are short and fleshy, and die off before the flowers appear. The flowers are a picture, bright pink to white scattered over the bare stony ground.
The latin name rediviva is an odd one. Meriwether Lewis, who first collected the plant in Montana in 1806, saved a pressed dried specimen. When it was examined months later, the root still showed signs of life. When planted it then grew afresh and the name rediviva, means 'restored to life'.
I don't know if this plant is in cultivation. I would love to grow it if anyone knows of a source for its seed?
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One vendor has this plant for sale.
