Pacific Sanicle

Gambleweed, Pacific Snakeroot
Sanicula crassicaulis
NATIVE

Description (Jepson, PlantID.net)

• Eudicotyledon
  • Eudicots are a major lineage of flowering plants; see family for general characteristics
• Carrot Family (Apiaceae)
• Herbaceous biennial (dies after flowering in second year)
  • Grows from a taproot
• Leaves
  • Palmately lobed (lobes radiating from a single point) with toothed margins
  • Surface coarse-textured
  • Sheath at base of petiole (leaf stalk)
• Flowers
  • Inflorescence (flower arrangement) is a dense umbel (a spoke-like flower cluster with stalks radiating from a single point)
    • Large, leafy, green bracts (modified leaf) at base
  • Individual minute yellow flowers with curled petals
    • Both bisexual and male-only flowers
  • Ovary inferior (below the attachment of other flower parts)
• Fruit is a schizocarp (a dry fruit that splits into 2 one-seeded segments), with curving prickles (extensions of the epidermis) and borne in small clusters
• Height to 39 in.
  • Some plants grow quite tall and open; others stay more compact

Distribution

• Native to California
  • Grows in chaparral and on wooded slopes and canyons in oak, redwood, and mixed evergreen forests
  • See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
• Outside California, grows from British Columbia to Baja California, Mexico, and southern South America
• Grows at elevations to 4,900 ft.

Uses (San Mateo County Parks prohibits removal of any natural material)

• Native people
  • Made a poultice of the leaves for rattlesnake bites and other wounds
    • Alternative common name snakeroot probably refers to this use

Name Derivation

• Sanicula (san-IK-yoo-la) – the diminutive of the Latin sanare, “to heal”
• crassicaulis (kras-i-KAW-lis) – from the Latin crassus, “thick,” and caulis, “stem”; thus “thick-stemmed”

Notes

• Prickles on the fruit enable seeds to be dispersed by attaching to animal fur or you!

ID Tips

• Edgewood has 5 native sanicles (Sanicula species)
  • Pacific sanicle grows the tallest, is distinct in form, and is the only Edgewood sanicle that is common along woodland trails
• When plant is not in flower, leaves may be confused with California larkspur leaves (Delphinium hesperium ssp. hesperium)
  • Pacific sanicle leaves are dark green and have a rough surface, with a complex, reticulate (netted) pattern of veins, giving them a cobbled look 
  • California larkspur leaves are light green and have a smooth surface, with a simple branching pattern of veins that lacks prominent reticulation

At Edgewood

• Found in all plant communities, but especially common in woodlands
  • See iNaturalist for observations of this plant
• Flowers March – May

See General References

Specific References

Wilson, B. 2012. Sanicula crassicaulis, Snakeroot. Las Pilitas Native Plant Nursery.