Bitterroot Rosettes

Montana is known for extremes in weather.  Given this, having the bitterroot as our state flower makes sense.

As a starting point, the name “bitterroot” carries three spare letters, which is admirable at a minimum.  More importantly, the bitterroot plant is a perennial adapted to survive in a harsh, arid environment, and is well-suited to drought conditions.

These very conditions define wide swaths of Montana.

The bitterroot goes dormant in winter and is one of the first plants to emerge in spring, appearing seemingly overnight with a rosette of fleshy leaves. By mid to late May, the plant produces showy, oversized pink flowers. After flowering, the plant produces brown seed pods that contain small, black seeds. As summer cools down, the bitterroot plant enters dormancy, dropping its leaves and retreating underground.

True to form, I have spotted bitterroot in my walks along our country road.  Like everything else this year, they are showing up late, but I am happy to see them at all.

Emerging Bitterroot

—Mitchell Hegman