thebashfulbotanist:

Lewisia rediviva, commonly known as bitterroot, is a really interesting little plant native to the American West. The famous botanist Frederick Pursh named it after Meriwether Lewis after Lewis collected it during the Lewis and Clark expedition. “Rediviva” refers to the plant’s ability to grow back from desiccated roots, seemingly coming back to life. However, the plant was already well known by the Native peoples of America, including the Cheyenne, Ktunaxa, Shoshone, and Nez Perce, among many others. Although the roots are very bitter, they were commonly eaten with salt or sugar and sometimes used as protection against bears.

These individuals were photographed on a dry ridge in the Methow Valley, Washington State. They tend to live on dry, exposed, often gravelly terrain where few other plants easily survive.

Bitterroot is such an important plant that a number of locations, such as the Bitterroot Mountains, are named for them, and it’s the state flower of Montana.