Part of the ongoing Gold Country GeoTourism Program. All the fun of geocaching with an added tourism twist; discover tales of our pioneers, unearth geological wonders or reveal magnificent sites of beauty. If you enjoyed this adventure look for more in this series.
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NOTE: This is a very "bitter route" to get to this Cache Site. Please remember to pack plenty of water, wear a hat, and get an early start for this hike. There is no shade for the duration and the arid environment and desert sun can be unrelenting.
Bitterroot: Lewisia rediviva also known as Sand Rose, Desert Rose, Rock Rose, Spatlum, and Spitlum
Secwepemc: lek̓w’pín (bitterroot) or spít̓em (hand-peeled)
Tsilhqot’in: beghed dints’ad (its root is bitter)
Stl’atl’imx (Fraser River): łək w ’pín
Nlaka’pamux: łk w ’ə́ pn
Nsyilxcen: sp‘iƛ’əm
Liľwat7úl: lhek̓wpín
English translation: Bitterroot, Sand Rose, Desert Rose, Rock Rose, Spatlum, Spitlum, and Speetlum (hand-peeled)
Family: Montiaceae
Origin: Native
Duration: Perennial
Color: Pink to almost white
Typical Bloom: April - July
Bitterroot is a fleshy, succulent plant from the Montiaceae family, but formerly was a part of the Portulacaceae family. The genus Lewisia was moved from the purslane family in 2009 with the newly adopted APGIII system of flowering plants classification. It is low growing and has a reddish and woody rootstock that leads down to its branching taproot. Bitterroot grows 1cm to 3cm tall and the flowers are between 3cm and 6cm across. The plant produces a single bright pink to almost white flower on each rootstock having 9-15 petals, and resembles the bloom from a water lily, opening only in sun. Bitterroot often grows in pairs.
Bitterroot grows at low to moderate elevations in rocky, sandy, and well-draining soils in open grassland mesas, sagebrush plains, and open dry forests. Bitterroot is native to western North America and has a wide and varied range from southern British Columbia down through Washington and Oregon on the west side of the Cascade Mountain Range to California and east to the western sides of Montana, Wyoming, northern Colorado and into northern Arizona.
Indigenous Cultural Notes: Bitterroot is still a culturally significant plant to many Interior Indigenous groups. Okanagan families from the Vernon area would travel as far south as Penticton during the spring to dig the bitterroot plant. A curved type of wooden hoe was used as a digging tool for harvesting. These digging hoes were made from hard woods like that of the Saskatoon tree. The roots were traditionally gathered and dried as a food source or traded to neighbouring tribes and was a highly prized item.
As the name states, the root is bitter, and was often cooked or mixed with meats or berries. The roots are best picked before the plant flowers in May before the root becomes woody and hard to peel. Once removed from the ground, Indigenous people would remove the red heart to reduce the bitterness. The roots were dried, but also, they were steamed, pit cooked, boiled, and eaten fresh, but almost always mixed with other foods such as saskatoon berries and deer fat, black tree lichen and fresh salmon eggs, tiger lily bulbs and ripened salmon eggs or dried gooseberries. Dried, the bitterroot will expand in the stomach, and thus it should not be overeaten.
The bitterroot was a sacred plant to the Nlaka’pamux people, and they believed the plants were at one time human. Before marrying, Nlaka’pamux couples would place a bitterroot pair under their pillow as a guiding spirit for the intimacy of their relationship. The Okanagan classified bitterroot as the “chief” of all roots.
The Nlaka’pamux women from the Ashcroft and Spences Bridge area harvested the bitterroots selectively, replanting the “heart” of the root, ensuring their propagation. They would also cultivate and transplant it in other areas increasing the region it would grow in Nancy Turner writes in her book, The Earth’s Blanket.
Bitterroot was also used medicinally by Indigenous cultures and was prepared into a tea that was used to treat heart trouble, increase breast milk production after childbirth, to purify the blood, and to relieve skin problems and diseases. In the south, the Lakota people used it as a remedy for toothache, sore throats, and was used by singers to keep their voices strong by chewing it. It was also used as a decongestant when placed on hot rocks in a sweat lodge. While still widely used by Indigenous people, its unique organic compounds have caught the eye of other practitioners and users of traditional medicines.
Interesting Facts: Bitterroot grew in vast quantities in the past. An observer who visited the Fraser Canyon region 100 years ago estimated that there were millions of plants, at least 100 per square meter in places. Since colonization the bitterroot species has become rare and endangered during the last 100 years in many regions of British Columbia due to soil compaction, industrial use of the land, and overgrazing by cattle. Please do not add to the peril of this beautiful and delicate flower by harvesting this plant. Many months after picking bitterroot and upon replanting, it may grow - the scientific name rediviva means “restored to life”.
Bitterroot Recipes:
In a pot combine 2 cups of dried saskatoon berries with 4 tablespoons of dried bitterroot and add water to cover. Boil until the consistency of applesauce. Adding sugar to taste, this could be eaten hot or cold. Some people would add a pounded flour as a thickener. - credit to John McIntyre of the Fraser Canyon Tribal Council
Bitterroot can also be eaten by mixing it with fish eggs, saskatoons and flour. This mixture would be cooked into a pudding consistency. If eaten as a main meal, salt would be added; if eaten as a desert, sugar would be added. -credit to Joyce Sam and Laura Washington
Researched and written by Lana Rae Brooks
https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/rsi/fnb/bitter-root.pdf
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/lewisia_rediviva.shtml#:~:text=Bitterroot%20is%20a%20culturally%20significant,mixed%20with%20meat%20or%20berries.
https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/rsi/fnb/bitter-root.pdf
http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/5-3-Sec-Science.pdf
https://bcfoodhistory.ca/okanagan-bitterroot/
https://northernbushcraft.com/topic.php?name=bitterroot®ion=bc&ctgy=edible_plants
https://prairieedge.com/bitterroot/#:~:text=This%20medicinal%20herb%20can%20be,to%20keep%20their%20voices%20strong
(Parish et al 1996)
Turner, Nancy J. (2005). The earth’s blanket. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre
Clark, Lewis J. (1973). Wild flowers of British Columbia. Sidney, BC: Gray’s Publishing