Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Balsamorhiza deltoidea

Balsamorhiza sagittata

deltoid balsam root, Puget balsamroot

arrow-leaf balsamroot
Habit Plants 20–90 cm. Plants (15–)20–40(–65) cm.
Basal leaves

blades green, deltate or rounded-deltate to triangular-deltate, 10–25+ × 7–15(–20) cm, bases cordate to sagittate, margins usually crenate to dentate (at least near bases), sometimes entire, apices acute, faces usually sparsely hirtellous to hispidulous, sometimes glabrous (usually gland-dotted, sometimes vernicose).

blades ± silvery to white or gray-green, rounded-deltate or deltate to triangular-deltate, 5–25 × 3–15 cm, bases ± cordate, margins entire, apices acute to attenuate, faces sericeous, tomentose, tomentulose, or velutinous (at least abaxially, usually gland-dotted as well), sometimes glabrescent.
Involucres

campanulate to hemispheric 15–30+ mm diam.

hemispheric to turbinate, 12–25 mm diam.
Ray laminae

20–50 mm.

20–40 mm.
Outer phyllaries

oblong to lanceolate or lance-linear, (12–)30–40(–60) mm, usually much surpassing inner, apices acute.

lanceolate to oblanceolate or linear, (15–)20–25(–30+) mm, equaling or surpassing inner, apices acute to acuminate.
Heads

usually borne singly, sometimes 2+.

usually borne singly, sometimes 2–3+.
2n

= 38.

= 38.

Balsamorhiza deltoidea

Balsamorhiza sagittata
Phenology Flowering (Mar–)Apr–Jun(–Jul). Flowering (Apr–)May–Jun(–Jul).
Habitat Open hillsides, openings in chaparral or forests Openings, banks, flats, meadows, ridges, sagebrush scrub, conifer forests
Elevation 60–1800(–2400) m (200–5900(–7900) ft) (100–)900–2500(–3000) m ((300–)3000–8200(–9800) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SDak
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Balsamorhiza deltoidea varies in the crenation of the leaf margins. The variability may stem from an old hybridization with B. hookeri or other species of Balsamorhiza. Otherwise, B. deltoidea shows little significant variability except where it hybridizes with B. careyana in the narrows of the Columbia River Gorge.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Balsamorhiza sagittata grows east of the Cascade-Sierra axis to the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills. It is one of the more spectacular of all spring-flowering plants in the northwestern United States. Hybrids occur along lines of contact between B. sagittata and almost all species of sect. Balsamorhiza except B. macrophylla (a high polyploid).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 95. FNA vol. 21, p. 95.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Artorhiza Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Artorhiza
Sibling taxa
B. careyana, B. hispidula, B. hookeri, B. incana, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. sericea, B. serrata
B. careyana, B. deltoidea, B. hispidula, B. hookeri, B. incana, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sericea, B. serrata
Synonyms B. glabrescens Buphthalmum sagittatum, B. helianthoides, Espeletia helianthoides, Espeletia sagittata
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 351. (1840) (Pursh) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 350. (1840)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers