Plant Name
Scientific Name: Anemopsis californica
Common Names: Yerba Mansa, Bear Root
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Riparian. This plant almost always grows in wetlands (~ 99% of the time) here.
Flower Color: White bracts and yellow flowers
Flowering Season: Late spring, Summer
Height: To 18 inches (46 cm) tall
Description: The flower heads are yellow, cone-shaped, and surrounded by 4 to 8, unequal, 3/4-inch (2 cm) long, petal-like bracts. The leaves are green, thick and leathery, oblong in shape, and mainly basal. This plant forms large colonies.
Special Characteristics
Culturally Significant Plant – Native Americans used the roots for medicinal purposes.
Edible – The seeds are edible if ground into meal.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Magnoliidae
Order: Piperales
Family: Saururaceae – Lizard's-tail family
Genus: Anemopsis Hook. & Arn. – yerba mansa
Species: Anemopsis californica (Nutt.) Hook. & Arn. – yerba mansa
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