dysmantle plant seed Barestem Desert Parsley Seeds - Lomatium nudicaule

dysmantle plant seed Barestem Desert Parsley Seeds - Lomatium nudicauleBarestem Desert Parsley, known as quxmin in Hul'q'umi'num' (language of the Quw'utsun Peoples) and EXMIN to the WSNE Peoples, is a very special plant with many ceremonial, medicinal, and food uses. It has been used medicinally as a treatment for tuberculosis, and the seeds can be burned on a woodstove to clean the air of mold. It is used ceremonially in association with fishing and processing salmon among many Pacific Northwest First Peoples. Among

Barestem Desert Parsley, known as q’uxmin in Hul'q'umi'num' (language of the Quw'utsun Peoples) and ḴEXMIN to the W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples, is a very special plant with many ceremonial, medicinal, and food uses. 

It has been used medicinally as a treatment for tuberculosis, and the seeds can be burned on a woodstove to clean the air of mold. It is used ceremonially in association with fishing and processing salmon among many Pacific Northwest First Peoples. Among groups such as the Kwakwaka'wakw and Nuu-chah-nulth, the seeds are burned as an incense at funerals and chewed by singers to ease their throats. I am currently chewing a delightfully aromatic seed while writing this seed description! 

This plant is in the carrot family, and has large striking umbels on plants about 2 feet tall. It grows in many different conditions from seasonally damp meadows to dry roadsides and sandy areas. It is an important food plant for Anise Swallowtail butterflies. 

I collected these seeds beside a highway growing alongside camas, somewhat near where a river meets the ocean, so I believe these plants may have been cultivated by the First Peoples of the area for many years. I made sure to replant seeds while I was harvesting, and I look forward to the seeds finding new homes in soils where they can be used for food and medicine without worry about road runoff. 

100% of sales from this variety go to Indigenous Food Sovereignty projects. If you are an Indigenous person who would like to grow these seeds, please email us at [email protected] and we will gift them to you free of charge.