Balsamorhiza hookeri |
Balsamorhiza deltoidea |
|
---|---|---|
hairy balsamroot, hare's head balsamroot, Hooker's balsam root |
deltoid balsam root, Puget balsamroot |
|
Habit | Plants 10–30 cm. | Plants 20–90 cm. |
Basal leaves | blades usually gray-green, narrowly to broadly lanceolate or ovate, (8–)20–30(–40) × 2–15 cm (1–2-pinnatifid, primary lobes oblong or lanceolate to linear, 5–100 × 0.5–15 mm, secondary lobes usually ± linear, spreading), bases ± truncate to broadly cuneate, ultimate margins usually entire (plane or revolute, ciliate or not), apices obtuse to acute, faces hirsute, sericeous, or strigose (and gland-dotted or finely stipitate-glandular). |
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, 15–30 mm diam. |
campanulate to hemispheric 15–30+ mm diam. |
Ray laminae | 15–30(–45) mm. |
20–50 mm. |
Outer phyllaries | ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 10–24+ mm, seldom surpassing inner, apices acuminate to attenuate (margins usually 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. |
= 38. |
Balsamorhiza hookeri |
Balsamorhiza deltoidea |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–May(–Jul). | Flowering (Mar–)Apr–Jun(–Jul). |
Habitat | Rocky outcrops, dry meadows, sagebrush scrublands, basalt scablands (north), dry, open forests (south) | Open hillsides, openings in chaparral or forests |
Elevation | (300–)1000–1500(–2900) m ((1000–)3300–4900(–9500) ft) | 60–1800(–2400) m (200–5900(–7900) ft) |
Distribution |
CA; NV; OR; WA
|
CA; OR; WA; BC
|
Discussion | At one time or another, most species of subg. Balsamorhiza have been synonymized under B. hookeri. Nevertheless, a number of taxa are justifiably segregated as species by their morphologic differences and geographic restrictions. One might logically choose either of two taxonomies: recognizing only two species in the entire genus, one representing subg. Artorhiza and the other subg. Balsamorhiza, or recognizing each slightly differing population as a species. Either course results in an unsatisfactory classification. The present classification is a compromise. A knotty problem persists. A central cluster of populations from eastern Washington to southeastern California display a number of minor and locally discrete morphologies. They tend to be less isolated from each other than are the peripheral populations, although some tend to mimic the latter ones in one or more characteristics. Their evolutionary history may be involved with past hybridizations with each other or with species of subg. Artorhiza, gene drift, and polyploidy. At present, it appears impossible to reach a satisfactory classification. (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 | ||
Synonyms | Heliopsis balsamorhiza, B. hirsuta, B. hirsuta var. lagocephala, B. hirsuta var. neglecta, B. hookeri var. hirsuta, B. hookeri var. lagocephala, B. hookeri var. neglecta, B. macrolepis var. platylepis, B. platylepis | B. glabrescens |
Name authority | Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 349. (1840) | Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 351. (1840) |
Web links |
|