Balsamorhiza serrata |
Balsamorhiza macrolepis |
|
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serrate balsam root, serrated balsamroot, serrrate balsamroot, tooth balsamroot |
big scale balsam root, California balsamroot |
|
Habit | Plants 10–20(–30) cm. | Plants 20–40(–60+) 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 green to gray-green, elliptic to lanceolate, 15–40+ × 4–14 cm (1–2-pinnatifid, primary lobes ovate to linear, 15–70 × 3–15 mm, usually lobed or toothed), bases cuneate to truncate, ultimate margins usually entire (slightly revolute, not ciliate), apices rounded to acute, faces strigillose to subvelutinous or tomentose (sometimes gland-dotted as well). |
Involucres | campanulate, 15–25 mm diam. |
hemispheric, (15–)20–30 mm diam. |
Ray laminae | (20–)30–40. |
20–30+ mm. |
Outer phyllaries | lanceolate to lance-triangular, 10–22 mm, shorter than inner, apices acute to attenuate (margins ciliate). |
ovate or oblong to lanceolate, 12–30(–40) mm, usually surpassing inner, apices obtuse to acute or attenuate. |
Heads | usually borne singly. |
usually borne singly. |
2n | = 38. |
|
Balsamorhiza serrata |
Balsamorhiza macrolepis |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Basaltic scablands, sagebrush scrub, openings in forests, meadow borders | Open, dry or moist, grassy or rocky slopes, valleys |
Elevation | (1000–)1400–1500 m ((3300–)4600–4900 ft) | 90–1400 m (300–4600 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; NV; OR; WA
|
CA
|
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.) |
Of conservation concern. Balsamorhiza macrolepis grows in the western foothills of central Sierra Nevada and in the eastern San Francisco Bay area (there mostly extirpated). The tall habit, exhibiting gigas characteristics, suggests that, like B. macrophylla, this taxon may be a polyploid. No hybrids with other species have been noted. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 21, p. 96. | FNA vol. 21, p. 97. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Balsamorhiza | Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Balsamorhiza |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 56: 479. (1913) | W. M. Sharp: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 22: 132. (1935) |
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