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 hispidula

Balsamorhiza deltoidea

hairy balsamroot, hispid balsamroot

deltoid balsam root, Puget balsamroot
Habit Plants 6–40 cm. Plants 20–90 cm.
Leaves

blades bright green, narrowly lance-elliptic to lanceolate, (6–)15–25(–40) × (3–)5–9+ cm (1–2-pinnatifid, primary lobes lanceolate to oblanceolate, 10–45 × 2–15 mm, secondary lobes usually divergent, antrorse), bases ± cuneate, ultimate margins usually entire (± revolute and/or thickened, often ciliate), apices acute to attenuate, faces ± hispidulous to hirtellous (gland-dotted as well; veins ± scabrous).

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).
Involucres

campanulate to hemispheric 10–25 mm diam.

campanulate to hemispheric 15–30+ mm diam.
Ray laminae

15–40 mm (abaxially glabrous).

20–50 mm.
Outer phyllaries

lanceolate to linear, 12–20 mm, not surpassing inner, apices acute to attenuate (margins often ciliate).

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

borne singly.

usually borne singly, sometimes 2+.
2n

= 38.

Balsamorhiza hispidula

Balsamorhiza deltoidea
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering (Mar–)Apr–Jun(–Jul).
Habitat Basalt scablands and desert-steppe areas, juniper and sagebrush scrublands Open hillsides, openings in chaparral or forests
Elevation 1800–2500 m (5900–8200 ft) 60–1800(–2400) m (200–5900(–7900) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Distribution of Balsamorhiza hispidula is highly disrupted in the southern part of its range.

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

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.)
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 98. FNA vol. 21, p. 95.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Balsamorhiza Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Artorhiza
Sibling taxa
B. careyana, B. deltoidea, B. hookeri, B. incana, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. sericea, B. serrata
B. careyana, B. hispidula, B. hookeri, B. incana, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. sericea, B. serrata
Synonyms B. hookeri var. hispidula B. glabrescens
Name authority W. M. Sharp: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 22: 137, fig. 3, plate 5. (1935) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 351. (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