Gray's Licorice Root

Ligusticum grayi Coult. & Rose, Rev. N. Am. Umbell. 88. 1888
Ligusticum apiifolium var. minor A. Gray; Brewer & Wats. Bot. Calif. 1: 264. 1876. Ligusticum purpureum Coult. & Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 7: 137. 1900. Ligusticum Pringlci Coult. & Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 7: 138. 1900. Ligusticum Cusickii Coult. & Rose, Contr. IT. S. Nat. Herb. 7: 138. 1900. Ligusticum tenuifolium var. dissimilis A. Nelson, Bot. Gaz. 53: 224. 1912.
Stout, scapose or short-caulescent, 2-6 din. high, glabrous throughout; leaves oblong to deltoid-ovate in general outline, excluding the petioles 6-20 cm. long, 3-8 cm. broad, ternatepinnate, the leaflets ovate to oblong, distinct, petiolulate, 1-2 cm. long, 5-15 mm. broad, deeply and regularly pinnatifid, the lobes or teeth oblong, obtuse or acute; petioles 1-10 cm. long; cauline leaves none or I or 2, much reduced; peduncles solitary, rarely with accessory verticillate or alternate ones, 7-20 cm. long; involucre wanting, or of 1 or 2 linear, deciduous bracts; involucel of 4-8 linear bractlets, 2-5 mm. long, shorter than the flowers and fruit; rays 5-14, spreading-ascending, subequal, 2-3.5 cm. long; pedicels spreading-ascending, 3-8 mm. long; calyx-teeth minute; flowers white or pinkish; fruit oval-oblong, 4—6 mm. long, 2-3 mm. broad, slightly compressed laterally, the ribs narrowly winged; oil-tubes 3-5 in the intervals, 8 on the commissure; seed dorsally flattened in cross section, the face slightly concave.
Type locality: Ostrander's Meadows. Yosemite Valley. California, Bolander 6341. Distribution: Western Montana, Idaho, and Washington, south to Nevada and the Sierra Nevada of central California (Constance. Beetle £? Detling 2794. Heller 9563).

Ligusticum grayi is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common name Gray's licorice-root. It is native to the western United States from Montana to California, where it grows in moist, mountainous habitat, such as meadows and forest floors. It is a carrotlike, perennial herb growing from a taproot to heights between 20 and 80 centimeters. The leaves are like those of its relatives, including celery, each divided into several leaflets with pointed lobes. The inflorescence is a compound umbel of many small, white flowers. The Atsugewi used various parts of this plant for medicinal and other uses.

The species could be confused with poison hemlock.