This plant grows everywhere in the arboretum. It is also known by the common Western Snakeroot. From what I read on the internet, apparently, this plant was used to help with snakebites. The Latin name for this plant is Sanicula crassicaulis. Sanicula comes from the Latin sanare which means to heal (Nature Collective). At the moment, I didn’t find any information on the medicinal qualities of this plant online.
It has yellow flowers (sometimes tinged purple) that are in small, compact, rounded clusters. These flowers are not showy and are probably passed over by most people. I watched a decent-sized patch of this plant the other day for a little while and the only insects I saw visiting it were weevils and one lady beetle. Actually, most of these plants had weevils on them. How does this plant fit into the life cycle of weevils? I expected to find more small insects visiting this flower considering how abundant it is. It is interesting that some plants like Pacific Sanicle have such small flowers that are mostly unnoticeable. Why have they evolved to be so small?
Resources
“Pacific Sanicle.” Nature Collective, https://naturecollective.org/plant-guide/details/pacific-sanicle/. Accessed 14 May 2023.
