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 rosea

Balsamorhiza macrophylla
Balsamorhiza rosea

rosy balsamroot

cutleaf balsamroot, Idaho balsamroot, large-leaf balsamroot
Habit Plants 6–10(–30) cm. Plants 30–45(–100) cm.
Basal leaves

blades gray-green, oblong to lance-ovate, 3–10(–20) × 2–5 cm (rarely pinnately lobed), bases weakly cordate or truncate, margins crenate to serrate, apices rounded to acute, faces finely strigose to moderately scabrous (usually gland-dotted as well).

green, ovate to lanceolate, 20–50+ × 8–15 cm (pinnatifid, lobes lanceolate, 20–80+ × 10–40 mm, entire or ± dentate), bases ± cuneate, ultimate margins usually entire (plane or weakly revolute, ciliate), apices obtuse to acute, faces scabrous or piloso-hirtellous to pilose (at least abaxial usually gland-dotted as well).
Involucres

hemispheric, 18–20 mm diam.

± hemispheric, 20–30 mm diam.
Ray laminae

(becoming brick-red, often drying to pink or rose, and chartaceous) (8–)15(–25) mm (hispidulous abaxially; cypselae strigose).

35–50+ mm.
Outer phyllaries

deltate or ovate to lanceolate, 8–12 mm, not surpassing inner.

lance-ovate or lanceolate to lance-linear, 12–30(–40) mm, equaling or surpassing inner (margins ciliate), apices acute to attenuate.
Heads

usually borne singly.

usually borne singly.
2n

= 38.

= 100 ± 2.

Balsamorhiza rosea

Balsamorhiza macrophylla
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Dry hills Deep soils, rocky meadows, sagebrush scrublands, conifer forests
Elevation 300–400 m (1000–1300 ft) 1000–2400 m (3300–7900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In a hybrid swarm involving Balsamorhiza rosea and B. careyana, B. rosea remains relatively uncontaminated; the dominance among the hybrids appears to lie with B. careyana. A record of a hybrid between B. rosea and B. careyana from the Spokane area is doubtful.

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

Balsamorhiza macrophylla is a high polyploid; it occurs sympatrically with B. sagittata. It evidently arose from hybridization between B. sagittata and B. hispidula. Balsamorhiza macrophylla has the multi-branched caudices and massive taproots of the former, and the leaf dissection of the latter. No hybrids with other species are known. Presumably, the high-polyploid chromosome complement precludes interbreeding. Plants of var. idahoensis are smaller, are known only from southwestern Idaho and northeastern Utah, and differ from var. macrophylla by being pilose, with strongly shaggy-pilose involucres. More study may determine that var. idahoensis merits specific rank. The Utah populations are not well understood and deserve attention.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 96. FNA vol. 21, p. 98.
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. hookeri, B. incana, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. macrophylla, B. sagittata, B. sericea, B. serrata
B. careyana, B. deltoidea, B. hispidula, B. hookeri, B. incana, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. sericea, B. serrata
Synonyms B. hookeri var. rosea B. hookeri var. idahoensis, B. macrophylla var. idahoensis
Name authority A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 56: 478. (1913) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 350. (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