1) Leaves of Podistera eastwoodiae are incised and then incised again and are fan shaped.  Oreoxis bakeri leaves are generally incised once and are flattened.

2) The tiny bractlets immediately below the flower cluster are green for Podistera eastwoodiae and are often tinged red for Oreoxis bakeri.

Both species often carpet the ground, both are found on alpine tundra (but Podistera eastwoodiae is also commonly found in high subalpine Spruce forests), both have yellow flowers (but Podistera eastwoodiae flowers can  be much brighter yellow  --  as shown in several photographs below), and Podistera eastwoodiae is often a larger plant at maturity.

See also the similar genera Lomatium and Cymopteris.

Podistera eastwoodiae
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Subalpine, alpine. Meadows, woodlands, tundra. Summer.
Cinnamon Pass, August 1, 2007.

These dwarf plants of subalpine forests and alpine tundra can be so numerous as to appear a grassy ground cover.  Closer inspection shows the finely cut, fan-shaped, parsley-like leaf and the umbel (umbrella-like) flower cluster.  The photograph at left shows the plant at about maximum size. 

"Podistera" is Greek for "solid foot" probably referring to its tight, compact growth pattern.  Podistera is a North American genus of only three members.  "Eastwoodiae" is for Alice Eastwood, eminent Colorado and California botanist who first collected this plant for science in Colorado's La Plata Mountains in 1892.  In 1895 John Coulter named the plant Ligusticum eastwoodae and it was renamed several times, finally to Podistera eastwoodiae by Mathias and Constance in 1942. (More biographical information.)

Podistera eastwoodiae
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Subalpine, alpine. Meadows, woodlands, tundra. Summer.
Cinnamon Pass, August 1, 2007.

Leaves are glossy, deeply serrated, and attached directly to and well-spaced along the leaf stem (the rachis) in a fan-shaped whorl .

Podistera eastwoodiae
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Subalpine, alpine. Meadows, woodlands, tundra. Summer.
Cinnamon Pass, August 1, 2007.

Flower heads are subtended by sharply toothed bracts.  Flower petals in the photograph at left are rolled inward; most flower petals in the photograph above are open; and most flower petals in the  Podistera eastwoodiae photograph at the top of the page have dropped and seeds are beginning to develop.

Podistera eastwoodiae
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Subalpine. Meadows, woodlands. Summer.
Upper Calico Trail, July 21, 2005.

Podistera eastwoodiae flowers range from golden and bright yellow (at left) to duller greenish-yellow (photographs above).

Oreoxis bakeri.  Synonym: Cymopteris bakeri.  (Alpine Parsley)
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Sharkstooth Trail, June 26, 2008.

Oreoxis bakeri can be very common on tundra, but since it is often no more than an inch or two high, it goes unnoticed.  It is very easy to confuse with Podistera eastwoodiae (shown above): notice first that the leaves of O. bakeri are cut in fine segments almost to the stem whereas those of P. eastwoodiae are cut only about half way and are in a neat little fan shape.  O. bakeri is a plant of alpine elevations; P. eastwoodiae is more common in high montane and sub-alpine but can occur in the alpine zone.

"Oros" is Greek for "mountains" and "bakeri" is for C. F. Baker, botanist, who collected extensively in Western Colorado.  He collected this plant near Pagosa Peak in Colorado probably in the late 1890s.  It was first named Oreoxis bakeri by John Coulter in 1900 and then named Cymopteris bakeri by Marcus Jones in 1908. (More biographical information.)

Oreoxis bakeri.  Synonym: Cymopteris bakeri.  (Alpine Parsley)
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Sharkstooth Trail, June 26, 2008.

Flowers are typically pale yellow and often recline.

Oreoxis bakeri.  Synonym: Cymopteris bakeri.  (Alpine Parsley)
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Sharkstooth Trail, June 26, 2008.