Growing lomatium dissectum (biscuit root, desert parsley...) for medicine

Hello,

Having read a few stuff on lomatium, and since I have almost every seeds of every rock star medicinal plant, I might buy a few of those seeds. When you have about 200 different type of seeds, I mean, what's one more ?

However I can't find information online on how and when to plant it. From what I can see, it's common in desert (who would have  though desert parsley like desert), so I'd guess, dry, poor soil ?

But when to plant it, in my zone ? Is it cold hardy ? Does it need to experience cold for a while before it germinate ? Does it want clay, sand, or something else ?

How long should a plant be grown before its root can be harvested ?

Thanks.

My go to reference for plant is Ken Fern's database. I found his info but it looks like he hasn't tried it himself so it may not be of much use for you.
Given it is native to Alberta it should be pretty hardy, but may prefer drier soils. Ken suggests the seeds may be slow to germinate (that's typical of wild flowers) so don't throw away the seeds if they don't sprout in one year!

This reference (?Washington) https://depts.washington.edu/propplnt/Plants/lomatium%20dissectum.htm gives much more detail and is probably worth reading - it suggests a long cold moist stratification (330 days) and then moving to 18 deg C for germination.

There's also a thread here which Joseph Lofthouse started which has some good information on using the plants too, although I'm not sure which biscuitroots are discussed there.

It sounds like an interesting plant. Edible roots as well as lots of medicinal uses!
Good luck.

I'm in USDA zone 6b and lomatium biscuit root grows wild here. We have a large patch on a 40% north facing slope, underneath pondorosa pine, 1-2 inch O horizon, 15inch A horizon and then a clay loam below.  We get between 30-40 inches of rain per year. It guessing the seeds need some cold stratification and it seems to like that duff/organic layer to help retain soil moisture for germination. Early spring planting would be best.  But these are very specific circumstances for our area.

Quick story. when we first moved into our place, I saw reddish spots at the bottom of the stems (of the what turned out to be lomatium biscuit root) , I instantly thought it was poison hemlock (conium maculatum) so I started digging it up. After I pulled out about 10 plants, I started to realize something didn't match up, did some quick research and realized I had just dug up about $200 worth of wildcrafted medicinals. Dope. Lesson learned.

Lomatium is a very close relative of parsley, so growing conditions are similar.

Cold stratification may help with germination.

Germination can take a long time, and the soil needs to be kept moist the entire time.  

As a general plant breeding note. I like to select for plants that germinate quickly, and don't require cold stratification. This sort of selection, conducted for 3-4 generations can really change the germination dynamics of a variety.