Balsamorhiza hookeri |
Balsamorhiza subg. Balsamorhiza |
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hairy balsamroot, hare's head balsamroot, Hooker's balsam root |
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Habit | Plants 10–30 cm. | |
Taproots | relatively slender, bark relatively thin, not corrugated; rhizomes sometimes present (relatively short, deep-seated); caudices seldom branched. |
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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 mostly lanceolate, lance-elliptic, lance-ovate, linear-oblong, oblong, or ovate, often 1–2-pinnatifid or -pinnately lobed, sometimes cordate, ultimate margins usually crenate, dentate, or serrate, seldom entire. |
Cauline leaves | mostly proximal to mid stems. |
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Petioles | mostly shorter than leaf blades. |
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Involucres | campanulate to hemispheric, 15–30 mm diam. |
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Ray corollas | mostly yellow (becoming brick red and chartaceous in B. rosea). |
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Ray laminae | 15–30(–45) mm. |
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Outer phyllaries | ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 10–24+ mm, seldom surpassing inner, apices acuminate to attenuate (margins usually ciliate). |
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Heads | borne singly. |
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2n | = 38. |
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Balsamorhiza hookeri |
Balsamorhiza subg. Balsamorhiza |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–May(–Jul). | |
Habitat | Rocky outcrops, dry meadows, sagebrush scrublands, basalt scablands (north), dry, open forests (south) | |
Elevation | (300–)1000–1500(–2900) m ((1000–)3300–4900(–9500) ft) | |
Distribution |
CA; NV; OR; WA
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w North America |
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.) |
Species 9 (9 in the flora). Members of subg. Balsamorhiza usually inhabit shallow, rocky soils. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 21, p. 98. | FNA vol. 21, p. 96. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Balsamorhiza | Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate 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 | |
Name authority | Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 349. (1840) | unknown |
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