This is the Arrow-leaved Balsamroot. It is the second flower to bloom in the spring, after the buttercup, at my cabin.
According to Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia and the Inland Northwest, “All parts of this plant are edible and provided a very important food for the Interior native people. The young leaves can be eaten raw or steamed. The Okanagan smoked the leaves like tobacco. The taproots were roasted or steamed, hung to dry and then soaked overnight. The seeds are like small sunflower seeds and the native peoples dried and pounded them to use as a flour.”
