Intermountain Flora observes that "the taxonomic definition of Cymopterus is a vexed question.... Even the distinction between Cymopterus and Lomatium is subject to failure.  Ordinarily one or more of the dorsal ribs [of the seeds have wings in] Cymopterus, but not in Lomatium.  Cymopterus newberryi completely bridges the difference.  In this species the dorsal wings vary from nearly or fully as large as the lateral ones to poorly developed or even obsolete".

     Also perplexing is the distinction between Cymopterus bulbosus and Cymopterus purpurascens, two look-alike plants.  When mature, C. bulbosus is up to ten inches tall; C. purpurascens is six inches tall.  As the flowers mature, their stems elongate beyond the bracts only in C. bulbosus.  C. bulbosus fruit is in an open versus tight cluster and the wings on its fruit are about 1.7-3 millimeters wide versus 3-6.5 mm wide.  C. bulbosus has a carpophore (a very slender filament to which the seeds are attached).  C. bulbosus has a star-shaped involucre versus the cup-shaped involucre of C. purpurascens and the involucels (those bracts that subtend the individual flower clusters) have a single nerve for C. bulbosus, three nerves for C. purpurascens.

In early spring, the white papery bracts of Cymopterus bulbosus are eye-arresting.  Purple/pink flowers push through the bracts and enlarge, the bracts folding back and playing a less prominent role.  Leaves are a beautiful pale green on broad flat stalks and provide a tasty treat for small critters -- notice the clipped  stalks to the left of center.

Alice Eastwood first collected specimens of this plant in Durango, Colorado in 1890 and Marcus Jones named the plant Cymopterus utahensis variety eastwoodae in 1895.  Aven Nelsen renamed this species Cymopterus bulbosus in 1899.

Semi-desert. Openings, shrublands, woodlands. Spring.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, March 27, 2005, April 2, 2005, March 24, 2009, Lone Mesa State Park, May 14, 2009, and BLM lands near the San Juan River, April 6, 2005.

Flowers start completely enclosed in tight papery white bracts (actually "bractlets", since the bracts are those structures that enclose the entire flower cluster) and gradually enlarge; bracts and bractlets remain as the flowers mature and seeds begin to form, but they eventually age and disappear as the seeds fully mature.

In the photograph of the flower cluster from the underside, you can see the star-shaped bract (the involucre), the rays that support the individual flower clusters, and the white bractlets (the involucels) with green veins.  The shape and size of the involucre and involucel are key in distinguishing C. bulbosus from C. purpurascens.

C. purpurascens and C. bulbosus are very similar plants, distinguished by various expert botanists with various, and not agreed upon, characteristics, as discussed at the top of this page.  Compare the photograph of seeds at left with the one immediately above it.  The seeds at left are on a more aged plant but it you can see that the wings are wider than those of C. bulbosus in the photograph above.

The range of the two plants is very similar in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona but C. purpurascens continues westward to the Pacific. 

William Weber believes that the name, C. purpurascens, is incorrectly applied; the name should be C. constancei.