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 perennial
  • Grows from a taproot
  • Short-lived, dying after flowering (monocarpic), usually in its second year
• 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 a darker green and have a rough surface, with a complex, reticulate (netted) pattern of veins, giving them a cobbled look 
  • California larkspur leaves are a lighter 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

Specific References

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

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

Charters, M.L. 2015. California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations.

Charters, M.L. 2017. Southern California Wildflowers: Guide to the Pronunciation of Specific, Generic and Family Names.

Corelli, T. 2004. Flowering Plants of Edgewood Natural Preserve (2nd. ed.). Monocot Press, Half Moon Bay, California.

Dave’s Garden.

Elpel, T.J. 2013. Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. HOPS Press, Pony, Montana.

Flora of North America. efloras.org.

Harris, J.G., and M.W. Harris. 2013. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah.

Keator, G. 2009. California Plant Families. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.

Native American Ethnobotany DB.

Regents of the University of California. Jepson eFlora. Jepson Herbarium. University of California, Berkeley.