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Balsamorhiza hookeri

hairy balsamroot, hare's head balsamroot, Hooker's balsam root

big scale balsam root, California balsamroot

Habit Plants 10–30 cm. Plants 20–40(–60+) 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 to gray-green, elliptic to lanceolate, 15–40+ × 4–14 cm (1–2-pinnatifid, primary lobes ovate to linear, 15–70 × 3–15 mm, usually lobed or toothed), bases cuneate to truncate, ultimate margins usually entire (slightly revolute, not ciliate), apices rounded to acute, faces strigillose to subvelutinous or tomentose (sometimes gland-dotted as well).

Involucres

campanulate to hemispheric, 15–30 mm diam.

hemispheric, (15–)20–30 mm diam.

Ray laminae

15–30(–45) mm.

20–30+ mm.

Outer phyllaries

ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 10–24+ mm, seldom surpassing inner, apices acuminate to attenuate (margins usually ciliate).

ovate or oblong to lanceolate, 12–30(–40) mm, usually surpassing inner, apices obtuse to acute or attenuate.

Heads

borne singly.

usually borne singly.

2n

= 38.

Balsamorhiza hookeri

Balsamorhiza macrolepis

Phenology Flowering Apr–May(–Jul). Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Rocky outcrops, dry meadows, sagebrush scrublands, basalt scablands (north), dry, open forests (south) Open, dry or moist, grassy or rocky slopes, valleys
Elevation (300–)1000–1500(–2900) m ((1000–)3300–4900(–9500) ft) 90–1400 m (300–4600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Of conservation concern.

Balsamorhiza macrolepis grows in the western foothills of central Sierra Nevada and in the eastern San Francisco Bay area (there mostly extirpated). The tall habit, exhibiting gigas characteristics, suggests that, like B. macrophylla, this taxon may be a polyploid. No hybrids with other species have been noted.

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

Source FNA vol. 21, p. 98. FNA vol. 21, p. 97.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Balsamorhiza Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Balsamorhiza
Sibling taxa
B. careyana, B. deltoidea, B. hispidula, 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. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. sericea, B. serrata
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
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 349. (1840) W. M. Sharp: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 22: 132. (1935)
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