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Balsamorhiza rosea

rosy balsamroot

serrate balsam root, serrated balsamroot, serrrate balsamroot, tooth balsamroot

Habit Plants 6–10(–30) cm. Plants 10–20(–30) 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).

blades pale green to gray-green, lanceolate or lance-ovate, 5–15(–20+) × 2–5(–10) cm (earliest sometimes, later seldom, pinnately lobed, mostly toward tips), bases usually cuneate to subtruncate, sometimes cordate, margins usually dentate to serrate, apices acute, faces hirsutulous to scabrous.

Involucres

hemispheric, 18–20 mm diam.

campanulate, 15–25 mm diam.

Ray laminae

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

(20–)30–40.

Outer phyllaries

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

lanceolate to lance-triangular, 10–22 mm, shorter than inner, apices acute to attenuate (margins ciliate).

Heads

usually borne singly.

usually borne singly.

2n

= 38.

= 38.

Balsamorhiza rosea

Balsamorhiza serrata

Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Dry hills Basaltic scablands, sagebrush scrub, openings in forests, meadow borders
Elevation 300–400 m (1000–1300 ft) (1000–)1400–1500 m ((3300–)4600–4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; WA
[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 serrata hybridizes with B. careyana. Leaves of the hybrids tend to be prostrate rather than erect. Most of the hybrids display the larger size of B. careyana and lack the pubescence of the heads; serrata-like plants never develop more than a single head nor do they have the pubescence of the cypselae.

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

Source FNA vol. 21, p. 96. FNA vol. 21, p. 96.
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. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. sericea
Synonyms B. hookeri var. rosea
Name authority A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 56: 478. (1913) A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 56: 479. (1913)
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