Balsamorhiza hookeri

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Balsamorhiza hookeri
Balsamorhiza hookeri 2.jpg
Balsamorhiza hookeri in flower on Badger Mountain, Douglas County Washington
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Balsamorhiza
Species:
B. hookeri
Binomial name
Balsamorhiza hookeri
Synonyms [1]
  • Balsamorhiza balsamorhiza(Hook.) A.Heller
  • Balsamorhiza hirsutaNutt.
  • Balsamorhiza platylepisW.M.Sharp
  • Heliopsis balsamorhizaHook.
Balsamorhiza hookeri, photographed in the Wasatch foothills, Provo, Utah. Hooker's balsamroot.jpg
Balsamorhiza hookeri, photographed in the Wasatch foothills, Provo, Utah.

Balsamorhiza hookeri (Hooker's balsamroot) 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. [2] It is found in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Description

The leaves are compound pinnate, with the leaflet divisions also divided or deeply lobed. Basal leaves are hairy and may be up to 16 inches (41 cm) long. [2] There may be one to several stems, which are leafless and hairy, and topped by one flower each. [2] [6]

It blooms from April to July. Flower heads are 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 cm) wide, and sunflower-like, with 10–21 fringe-tipped ray flowers and numerous disc flowers. The flower bract has long hairs. [2] [7] [8]

Distribution and habitat

It grows to 9,000 feet (2,700 m) in dry, grassy meadows in sagebrush steppe and montane plant communities in the Great Basin. [2] It is common at much lower elevations in central Washington State scablands. [8]

Ecology

It tends to grow in rockier habitats than its cousin, arrow-leaf balsamroot ( Balsamorhiza sagittata ). [2] It hybridizes with arrow-leaf balsamroot, which has arrow shaped leaves. [2] The result is a plant with leaves that are arrow shaped, but also deeply divided. [2]

Uses

Balsamroots have been used as food and medicine by native peoples for many years. [9]

References

  1. ↑ "Balsamorhiza hookeri (Hook.) Nutt.". The Global Compositae Checklist (GCC)– via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Great Basin Wildflowers, Laird R. Blackwell, 2006, Morris Book Publishing LLC., ISBN   0-7627-3805-7. p. 115.
  3. ↑ Kartesz, John T. (2014). "Balsamorhiza hookeri". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
  4. ↑ "Balsamorhiza hookeri". Calflora. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database.
  5. ↑ Weber, William A. (2006). "Balsamorhiza hookeri". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 21. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 148. ISBN   0-87842-280-3. OCLC   25708726.
  7. ↑ Hitchcock, C.L. and Cronquist, A. 2018. Flora of the Pacific Northwest, 2nd Edition, p. 550. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
  8. 1 2 Burke Herbarium Image Collection| http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Balsamorhiza%20hookeri
  9. ↑ "Hairy Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza hookeri var. hispidula)" by Charmaine Delmatier, United States Forest Service. 2014. Accessed March 11, 2025.
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