Coast Microseris (Microseris bigelovii) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 9

Special Significance of the Species

Canadian populations of Microseris bigelovii are of scientific interest because its distribution suggests that it is a relict from the Hypsithermal Interval of warm, dry climate 4,000-6,000 years b.p. British Columbia populations are highly disjunct from its distributional centre in California. Although no Aboriginal uses have been found in the literature for M. bigelovii, the root of another species, M. nutans, found in British Columbia but primarily southwards in Montana, Utah, Colorado and California, is known to have been used as a food in Montana (Native American Ethnobotany, web site accessed December 2004).

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