The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

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

hoary balsamroot, woolly balsamroot

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

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.

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, 15–25 mm diam.

hemispheric, 20–25(–30) mm.

Ray laminae

(20–)30–40.

20–40(–50+) mm.

Outer phyllaries

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

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

Heads

usually borne singly.

usually borne singly.

2n

= 38.

= 38.

Balsamorhiza serrata

Balsamorhiza incana

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering May–Jun(–Jul).
Habitat Basaltic scablands, sagebrush scrub, openings in forests, meadow borders Grassy meadows, dry, rocky sites, openings in conifer forests
Elevation (1000–)1400–1500 m ((3300–)4600–4900 ft) 1200–2800 m (3900–9200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; MT; OR; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

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. sericea
B. careyana, B. deltoidea, B. hispidula, B. hookeri, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. sericea, B. serrata
Name authority A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 56: 479. (1913) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 350. (1840)
Web links