[Wikipedia] Food Source: The entire plant is edible, but caution should be maintained as it has a similar appearance to the carrot family's deadly water hemlock and poison hemlock.[2] It was an important food plant, even a staple food, for many Native American groups, including the Blackfoot, Northern Paiute, Cheyenne and Comanche. The tuberous roots could be eaten like potatoes, roasted, steamed, eaten fresh or dried, made into mush or pinole, used as flour and flavoring, and were also used medicinally.[3] Meriwether Lewis encountered the plant in 1805 and 1806, referring to it as a species of fennel. (link added by Mary Ann Machi)