Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Apiales > Apiaceae > Sanicula > Sanicula tuberosa

Sanicula tuberosa (turkey pea)

Synonyms: Hesperogeton tuberosum

Wikipedia Abstract

Sanicula tuberosa is a species of flowering plant in the parsley family known by the common name turkey pea. It is native to western North America from Oregon through California to Baja California, where it can be found in many types of habitat, including chaparral, forests, and woodlands. It is variable in appearance. In general, it is a perennial herb producing a slender stem up to 80 centimeters long from a small, spherical tuber no more than 2 centimeters wide. The leaves are compound, divided into usually three leaflets which are smooth or deeply cut into lobes. The herbage is green to purple in color. The inflorescence is made up of one or more heads of bisexual and male-only flowers with tiny, curving, yellow petals. The fruits are 1 or 2 millimeters long and covered in bumpy tuberc
View Wikipedia Record: Sanicula tuberosa

Attributes

Edible [1]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [1]  Hermaphrodite
Hazards [1]  Although no mention has been seen for this species, the leaves of at least two other members of the genus contain saponins; Although toxic, saponins are very poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass through without causing harm, they are also destroyed by thorough cooking. Saponins are found in many plants, including several that are often used for food, such as certain beans. It is advisable not to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish;
Lifespan [1]  Perennial
Pollinators [1]  Insects, Lepidoptera
Structure [2]  Herb
Height [1]  24 inches (0.6 m)
View Plants For A Future Record : Sanicula tuberosa

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
San Dimas Biosphere Reserve 17161 California, United States  

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
2USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0