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silky balsamroot, silvery balsamroot

hoary balsamroot, woolly balsamroot

Habit Plants 10–30(–40) cm. Plants 20–35(–70) cm.
Basal leaves

blades silvery, lanceolate or lance-ovate, 9–30 × 2–7 cm (1-pinnatifid, lobes oblong to oblanceolate, 5–35 × 3–17 mm), bases cuneate, ultimate margins usually entire (plane or weakly revolute, obscurely, if at all, ciliate), apices rounded to acute, faces densely sericeous.

blades white to grayish, lance-ovate to oblong, 10–45 × 3–7(–10) cm (1-pinnatifid, lobes ovate to lanceolate, 20–50 × 5–25 mm), bases broadly cuneate to truncate, margins entire or serrate (plane, not distinctly ciliate), apices obtuse, faces usually densely, sometimes sparsely, tomentose.

Involucres

campanulate to hemispheric, 11–20+ mm diam.

hemispheric, 20–25(–30) mm.

Ray laminae

15–20 mm (adaxially puberulous on veins).

20–40(–50+) mm.

Outer phyllaries

broadly ovate to triangular-ovate, 12–20 mm, slightly surpassing inner, apices acuminate to attenuate (margins not ciliate).

ovate to lanceolate or linear, 15–20 mm, shorter than inner, apices acute to attenuate (margins ± ciliate).

Heads

borne singly.

usually borne singly.

2n

= 38.

Balsamorhiza sericea

Balsamorhiza incana

Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering May–Jun(–Jul).
Habitat Serpentine outcrops, among surface rocks, in crevices, hillsides, dry streamsides among cobbles Grassy meadows, dry, rocky sites, openings in conifer forests
Elevation 400–1800 m (1300–5900 ft) 1200–2800 m (3900–9200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; MT; OR; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Balsamorhiza sericea hybridizes with B. deltoidea.

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

Balsamorhiza incana hybridizes with B. sagittata.

(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. rosea, B. sagittata, B. serrata
B. careyana, B. deltoidea, B. hispidula, B. hookeri, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. sericea, B. serrata
Name authority W. A. Weber: Phytologia 50: 358. (1982) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 350. (1840)
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