Balsamorhiza sagittata |
|
---|---|
arrow-leaf balsamroot |
|
Habit | Plants (15–)20–40(–65) cm. |
Basal leaves | blades ± silvery to white or gray-green, rounded-deltate or deltate to triangular-deltate, 5–25 × 3–15 cm, bases ± cordate, margins entire, apices acute to attenuate, faces sericeous, tomentose, tomentulose, or velutinous (at least abaxially, usually gland-dotted as well), sometimes glabrescent. |
Involucres | hemispheric to turbinate, 12–25 mm diam. |
Ray laminae | 20–40 mm. |
Outer phyllaries | lanceolate to oblanceolate or linear, (15–)20–25(–30+) mm, equaling or surpassing inner, apices acute to acuminate. |
Heads | usually borne singly, sometimes 2–3+. |
2n | = 38. |
Balsamorhiza sagittata |
|
Phenology | Flowering (Apr–)May–Jun(–Jul). |
Habitat | Openings, banks, flats, meadows, ridges, sagebrush scrub, conifer forests |
Elevation | (100–)900–2500(–3000) m ((300–)3000–8200(–9800) ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SDak
|
Discussion | Balsamorhiza sagittata grows east of the Cascade-Sierra axis to the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills. It is one of the more spectacular of all spring-flowering plants in the northwestern United States. Hybrids occur along lines of contact between B. sagittata and almost all species of sect. Balsamorhiza except B. macrophylla (a high polyploid). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 21, p. 95. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Artorhiza |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Buphthalmum sagittatum, B. helianthoides, Espeletia helianthoides, Espeletia sagittata |
Name authority | (Pursh) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 350. (1840) |
Web links |