Balsamorhiza hookeri
Balsamorhiza lanata
hairy balsamroot, hare's head balsamroot, Hooker's balsam root
lanate balsamroot, woolly balsamroot, Yreka balsamroot
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 white to grayish, lanceolate to linear-oblong, 10–20 × 3–6(–8) cm (1–2-pinnatifid, primary lobes lance-linear to oblong, mostly 5–40 × 1–10 mm, secondary lobes or teeth antrorse, divergent), bases cuneate to truncate, ultimate margins mostly entire (± revolute), apices rounded to acute, faces densely lanate-tomentose to villous.
campanulate to hemispheric, 15–30 mm diam.
± hemispheric, 12–20 mm diam.
15–30(–45) mm.
(10–)15–20 mm (abaxially puberulent or glabrous).
ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 10–24+ mm, seldom surpassing inner, apices acuminate to attenuate (margins usually ciliate).
lanceolate to linear, 10–20 mm, sometimes surpassing inner, apices acute to attenuate.
borne singly.
borne singly.
= 38.
Balsamorhiza hookeri
Balsamorhiza lanata
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.)
Of conservation concern.
Balsamorhiza lanata is known from a relatively restricted area in northern California and southern Oregon. No hybrids between it and other species have been noted.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
