Bitterroot
(Lewisia rediviva)
Adopted in 1895.
The bitterroot,Lewisia
rediviva, was adopted
as the state flower in 1895.
Delegates to the 1889
Montana Women's Christian
Temperance Union, meeting in
Missoula, selected a "little
blue flower that grows near
the snow banks" as the
WCTU's official state
flower. Two years later,
sentiment arose for change
and the bitterroot received
the WCTU's designation. A
perennial, the bitterroot
has an exquisite pink
blossom which grows close to
the ground and its delicate
shadings offer the eye one
of the loveliest of
wildflowers.
The bitterroot (Lewisia
Rediviva) was a logical
historical choice. In 1805,
Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark "discovered" the plant
in the western Montana
valley that now bears its
name.
Long before explorers
Lewis and Clark wrote about
the beautiful purplish-pink
flower of the bitterroot,
Native Americans were using
its roots for food and
trade. Tribes dug up the
roots and dried them so they
could be kept and used for
months. The root was too
bitter to eat unless it was
cooked, and it was usually
mixed with berries or meat.
An Indian story tells how
the bitterroot came to be.
It says the sun heard a
mother crying because she
couldn't find food for her
family. The sun changed her
tears into the bitterroot so
she would always have food
for her children. You can
find the bitterroot growing
near the mountains and
boulders of western Montana
in spring and summer. Mice
love its leaves and seeds.
A decade before the
Spanish American War colored
Montana's seal, a more
subdued movement began to
add beauty and a mild
fragrance to Montana's list
of symbols.
Montana's Indians used it as
an important part of their
diet. Tribes timed their
spring migrations with the
blooming of the bitterroot
on the gravel river bars and
hillsides. Dug, cleaned, and
dried, the root provided a
lightweight, nutritious
supplement to a wild-game
diet. At major trading
centers like The Dalles, the
root was an item of barter
and exchange. A sackful
commanded a substantial
price-usually a horse.
One ounce of dried root
provided sufficient
nourishment for a meal, but
the plant was seldom eaten
raw, for its bitter taste
and resultant swelling
caused great discomfort.
More traditionally, Indian
women boiled the root, then
mixed it with meat or
berries. Pulverized and
seasoned with deer fat and
moss, the cooked root could
be molded into patties and
carried on hunting
expeditions or war parties.
With a strong Indian
heritage and a name derived
from the leader of the Lewis
and Clark expedition, the
bitterroot was most
appropriate as a state
symbol. In their
contribution to the 1893
Columbia Exposition, Butte
residents used the flower as
the central figure on a
large silver shield. That
same year, in response to a
national WCTU program, Mrs.
Mary Long Alderson of
Bozeman began efforts to
secure legislative
designation for the
bitterroot as Montana's
state flower.
Mary Alderson was the heart
of the state flower movement
in Montana. In January of
1894, she formed and headed
Montana's Floral Emblem
Association. County and
community committees
followed, as did floral
meetings in most major
cities and towns. The
association set a state-wide
referendum for fall.
Interested men and women
registered in their
respective counties. Mrs.
Alderson's committee then
sent out a ballot to each
registrant. Ballots had to
be completed and returned by
September 1, 1894.
Montana's press joined in
the effort. Columns
described the cause and the
floral candidates.
Editorials advocated this
flower or that. When the
polls closed, 5,857 ballots
were in. More than 32
separate flowers received
votes. The winner (with
3,621 votes) was the
bitterroot, followed by the
evening primrose (787 votes)
and the wild rose (668). At
Mrs. Alderson's urging, the
1895 Legislature responded
to public preference and
sanctioned the symbol.
Before long the delicate
petals of the bitterroot
graced stationery, posters,
silverware, and even special
sets of double damask Irish
linen. The major credit for
the addition of the
bitterroot to Montana's list
of official symbols belongs
to Mary Long Alderson.
Perennial with flowers
that are rose-pink, and 2
inches across in May and.
June. It has narrow,
red-green leaves that form
basal rosette in early
spring. The leaves die back
in June. Plants are located
from British Colombia to San
Bernardino Mtns. to Rocky
Mtns. The plant is not
alkali tolerant, and needs
good drainage. The peeled,
boiled root may be eaten,
and the plant protect from
birds until established. It
is an excellent showy plant
at higher elevations or in
the East. It has a tendency
to rot in the winters at
lower elevations because of
wet conditions.
- Flowers:
Bitterroots white to
pinkish flowers, each
about two inches across
appear to be leafless.
But the fleshy, one to
two inch leaves appear
before the flowers in
early spring, soon after
the snow melts. They
wither away by the time
the flowers bloom,
generally in early June.
One flower per scape; 4
to 9 sepals; 10 to 19
petals, 18 to 35 mm,
white to rose colored;
40 to 70 stamens
- Blooms: May
to June
- Leaves:
Basal, thick, succulent;
without margins of
flattening of top and
bottom surfaces; leaves
either present at
anthesis or withering
and drying by then
- Plant:
Perennial. Traditionally
the roots were peeled,
then cooked and eaten,
or dried for future use
by the Coeur d'Alene,
Kutenai,
Okanagon-Coville,
Okanagon, Sanpoil,
Shuswap, Spokan, and
Thompson.
- Habitat:
Loose gravel and rocky
places, sandy ground,
granite or shale, mostly
dry soil, Bitterroot
plains to lower
mountains
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Official Montana State Flower