Balsamorhiza

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Balsamroot
Balsamorhiza sagittata whole 20070422.jpg
Balsamorhiza sagittata
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Heliantheae
Genus: Balsamorhiza
Hook. ex Nutt.
Leaves are mostly basal with long petioles, entire as in this Balsamorhiza careyana individual, or with one to three pinnate lobes Balsamorhiza careyana Meeks Table.jpg
Leaves are mostly basal with long petioles, entire as in this Balsamorhiza careyana individual, or with one to three pinnate lobes

Balsamorhiza [1] is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae known commonly as balsamroots. [2] [3] These are perennials with fleshy taproots and caudices bearing erect stems and large, basal leaves. Atop the tall stems are showy yellow sunflower-like blooms. Balsamroots are native to western North America (United States and Canada).

Contents

Native Americans used the sticky sap of this plant as a topical antiseptic for minor wounds. The entire plant is edible and nutritious, but not necessarily enjoyable because it contains a bitter, strongly pine-scented sap. The large taproots produced by Balsamorhiza sagittata are edible and were harvested, dried, and ground into a starchy flour by Native Americans when other food plants were scarce. The plants' large taproots are reported to be very palatable and far less bitter than the above-ground parts of the plant. [4]

The plant grows on dry hillsides and dry open meadows throughout the Mountain West of North America. The plant can be easily confused with species belonging to the genus Wyethia (mule's ears); and Wyethia and Balsamorhiza tend to have very similar appearances and flowering habits. Wyethia species are easily distinguished from Balsamorhiza due to their very sharply lanced leaves which lack the fuzzy silver gray appearance of Balsamorhiza species. Balsamorhiza sagittata is the most common and widespread species in the genus within the Mountain West of North America. [4]

Palatable to wildlife and livestock, this is a herb that decreases under grazing. Though once covering much of the arid west in spring, this common forb has become uncommon and even disappeared in some areas like the Snake River Plains. The presence of this plant can be used as an indicator of overall range health—fewer plants and flowers indicate over-utilization of pastures and/or allotments. Hillsides covered with these flowers and perennial bunchgrasses and sagebrush can quickly become wastelands of cheatgrass and tumblemustard if cattle or other stock overgraze, consuming the herb and grass energy reserves again and again until the plants individually die, while crushing their only shade. [5]

Species and nothospecies

There are about 13 species [1] and two nothospecies: [6] [7]

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<i>Balsamorhiza deltoidea</i> Species of flowering plant

Balsamorhiza deltoidea is a species of flowering plant in the sunflower tribe of the plant family Asteraceae known by the common name deltoid balsamroot. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it grows in many types of generally mountainous habitat.

Balsamorhiza macrolepis is a species of flowering plant in the tribe Heliantheae of the family Asteraceae, known by the common name California balsamroot. It is found only in California, where it grows in dry, open habitat, mostly in mountainous areas, mostly in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada and in the eastern Coast Ranges near San Francisco Bay. It is now becoming rare in the Coast Ranges.

<i>Balsamorhiza sagittata</i> Species of flowering plant

Balsamorhiza sagittata is a North American species of flowering plant in the tribe Heliantheae of the family Asteraceae known by the common name Arrowleaf Balsamroot. It is widespread across western Canada and much of the western United States. A specimen was collected by explorer and botanist Meriwether Lewis near Lewis and Clark Pass in 1806.

<i>Balsamorhiza sericea</i> Species of flowering plant

Balsamorhiza sericea is a species of flowering plant in the tribe Heliantheae of the family Asteraceae known by the common name silky balsamroot. It is native to the Klamath Mountains of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon, with additional populations in the Blue and Steens Mountains in eastern Oregon. It grows in rocky areas, sometimes on serpentine soils.

<i>Crepis occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Crepis occidentalis is a North American species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names western hawksbeard, or largeflower hawksbeard. It is native to western Canada and the western United States.

<i>Crepis runcinata</i> Species of flowering plant

Crepis runcinata is a North American species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name fiddleleaf hawksbeard. It is native to western and central Canada, the western and central United States and northern Mexico (Chihuahua).

<i>Ribes hudsonianum</i> Species of fruit and plant

Ribes hudsonianum is a North American species of currant, known by the common name northern black currant.

<i>Erigeron pumilus</i> Species of flowering plant

Erigeron pumilus, the shaggy fleabane, or vernal daisy, is a hairy North American species of perennial plants in the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across much of western Canada and the western United States, from British Columbia east to Saskatchewan and south as far as Oklahoma and the San Bernardino Mountains of California. There have been reports of the plant growing in Yukon Territory, but these were based on misidentified specimens.

<i>Balsamorhiza hookeri</i> Species of flowering plant

Balsamorhiza hookeri is a North American species of perennial plant in the family Asteraceae. It grows in the Great Basin and neighboring regions in the Western United States. It is found in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

<i>Balsamorhiza hispidula</i> Species of flowering plant

Balsamorhiza hispidula is a North American species of plants in the sunflower tribe within the aster family. It is native to western United States, primarily the Great Basin and other dry, relatively flat terrain. It has been found in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.

<i>Balsamorhiza incana</i> Species of plant

Balsamorhiza incana is a North American species of plants in the tribe Heliantheae of the family Asteraceae. It is native to the northwestern United States, in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and Oregon.

Balsamorhiza rosea is a North American species of plants in the sunflower tribe within the aster family. It is native to the northwestern United States, in Washington and Oregon.

<i>Balsamorhiza macrophylla</i> Species of flowering plant

Balsamorhiza macrophylla is a North American species of plants in the tribe Heliantheae of the family Asteraceae. The species is native to the northwestern United States, in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Oregon. It grows in sagebrush scrublands and conifer forests. It sometimes hybridizes with Balsamorhiza sagittata.

Balsamorhiza serrata is a North American species of plants in the tribe Heliantheae of the family Asteraceae.

References

  1. 1 2 Weber, William A. (2006). "Balsamorhiza". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 21. New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  2. ↑ Nuttall, Thomas. 1840. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, new series 7: 349–351 in English
  3. ↑ "Balsamorhiza Hook. ex Nutt.". Tropicos . Missouri Botanical Garden.
  4. 1 2 Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford, ISBN   0-87842-359-1
  5. ↑ Tilley, D., St. John, L., and N. Shaw. 2012. Plant Guide for Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata). USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service, Aberdeen Plant Materials Center. Aberdeen, Idaho 83210.
  6. ↑ "Balsamorhiza". The Plant List . Missouri Botanical Garden. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ↑ "Balsamorhiza". County-level distribution maps from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
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