Flora of North America species comparison

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Balsamorhiza serrata

Balsamorhiza sagittata

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

arrow-leaf balsamroot
Habit Plants 10–20(–30) cm. Plants (15–)20–40(–65) 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 ± 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

campanulate, 15–25 mm diam.

hemispheric to turbinate, 12–25 mm diam.
Ray laminae

(20–)30–40.

20–40 mm.
Outer phyllaries

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

lanceolate to oblanceolate or linear, (15–)20–25(–30+) mm, equaling or surpassing inner, apices acute to acuminate.
Heads

usually borne singly.

usually borne singly, sometimes 2–3+.
2n

= 38.

= 38.

Balsamorhiza serrata

Balsamorhiza sagittata
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering (Apr–)May–Jun(–Jul).
Habitat Basaltic scablands, sagebrush scrub, openings in forests, meadow borders Openings, banks, flats, meadows, ridges, sagebrush scrub, conifer forests
Elevation (1000–)1400–1500 m ((3300–)4600–4900 ft) (100–)900–2500(–3000) m ((300–)3000–8200(–9800) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SDak
[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 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. 96. FNA vol. 21, p. 95.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Balsamorhiza Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Artorhiza
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. incana, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sericea, B. serrata
Synonyms Buphthalmum sagittatum, B. helianthoides, Espeletia helianthoides, Espeletia sagittata
Name authority A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 56: 479. (1913) (Pursh) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 350. (1840)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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