Balsamorhiza sagittata

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Balsamorhiza sagittata
Balsamorhiza sagittata 10.jpg
Balsamorhiza sagittata

(near Horselake, Chelan County, Washington)

Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
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. sagittata
Binomial name
Balsamorhiza sagittata
Balsamorhiza sagittata distribution.png
Distribution in North America
Synonyms [1]
  • Balsamorhiza helianthoides(Nutt.) Nutt.
  • Buphthalmum sagittatumPursh
  • Espeletia helianthoidesNutt.
  • Espeletia sagittata(Pursh) Nutt.

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. Also sometimes called Oregon sunflower, [2] [3] it is widespread across western Canada and much of the western United States. [4]

Contents

Description

The leaves are entire and covered with fine to rough hairs, especially on the undersides. Balsamorhiza sagittata 4774.JPG
The leaves are entire and covered with fine to rough hairs, especially on the undersides.

This is a taprooted perennial herb growing a hairy, glandular stem 20 to 60 centimetres (7+3⁄4 to 23+1⁄2 inches) tall, with the plant's total height up to 80 cm (31 in). [5] The branching, barky root may extend over 2 metres (6+1⁄2 feet) deep into the soil. The silvery-gray basal leaves [5] are generally triangular in shape and large, approaching 50 cm (20 in) in maximum length. Leaves farther up the stem are linear to narrowly oval in shape and smaller. The leaves have untoothed edges and are coated in fine to rough hairs, especially on the undersides. [6] [7] [8] [9]

The inflorescence bears one or more flower head, sometimes more than one on the same stem, [10] blooming from May to July. [5] Each head has a center of long yellowish tubular disc florets and a fringe of 8–25 bright yellow ray florets, each up to 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in) long. [5] The fruit is a hairless achene about 8 millimetres (3⁄8 in) long. [11]

B. deltoidea is similar but is greener, less hairy, and does not retain its ray flowers for long. [5]

Distribution and habitat

The plant's native range extends from British Columbia and Alberta in the north, southward as far as northern Arizona and the Mojave Desert of California, and as far east as the Black Hills of South Dakota. [4] It grows in many types of habitat from mountain forests to grassland to desert scrub. [12] [13] It is drought tolerant. [14]

Ecology

The species hybridizes with Balsamorhiza hookeri . [10]

Grazing animals find the plant palatable, especially the flowers and developing seed heads. [11] Elk and deer browse the leaves. [15]

Uses

Coming into season in late spring, all of the plant can be eaten—particularly the leaves (raw or cooked), roots (cooked), and the seeds, raw or pounded into flour. [14] [16] It can be bitter and pine-like in taste. [17] The leaves are best collected when young and can carry a citrus flavor. [18]

Many Native American groups, including the Nez Perce, Kootenai, Cheyenne, and Salish, utilized the plant as a food and medicine. [19] [11] The seeds were particularly valuable as food or used for oil. [20] In 1806, William Clark collected a specimen near the White Salmon River, and both he and Frederick Pursh noted that the stem was eaten raw by the American natives. [18]

Culture

A specimen was collected by explorer and botanist Meriwether Lewis near Lewis and Clark Pass in 1806. [21]

Under the name Okanagan Sunflower, it is the official flower emblem of the city of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. [22]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Linum lewisii</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Purshia tridentata</i> Species of shrub

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<i>Grindelia squarrosa</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Fritillaria pudica</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Geum triflorum</i> Species of flowering plant

Geum triflorum, commonly known as prairie smoke, old man's whiskers, torchflower, three-sisters, long-plumed purple avens, lion's beard, or three-flowered avens, is a spring-blooming perennial herbaceous plant of the Rosaceae family. It is a hemiboreal continental climate species that is widespread in colder and drier environments of western North America, although it does occur in isolated populations as far east as New York and Ontario. It is particularly known for the long feathery plumes on the seed heads that have inspired many of the regional common names and aid in wind dispersal of its seeds.

<i>Adenocaulon bicolor</i> Species of flowering plant

Adenocaulon bicolor, the American trailplant, trailplant, pathfinder, or silver-green, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to North America. It is found in southern Canada and across the northern and western United States. It is the only species of Adenocaulon native to the United States or Canada. The genus name Adenocaulon is derived from Greek, and refers to the glandular stem. The English name "Pathfinder" was given to this species, because if you walk through a patch of its leaves you will find the path you made through them, with some of the white undersides of the leaves having been exposed, by them having been twisted. Over time, the plant will turn its leaves back with the green side up, and the white side down.

<i>Balsamorhiza</i> Genus of plants in the sunflower family

Balsamorhiza is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae known commonly as balsamroots. 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.

<i>Gaillardia aristata</i> Species of flowering plant

Gaillardia aristata is a North American species of flowering plant in the sunflower family, known by the common names common blanketflower and common gaillardia. This perennial wildflower is widespread across much of North America, from Yukon east to Québec and south as far as California, Arizona, Illinois, and Connecticut, although it may be naturalized rather than native in parts of that range. It is also naturalized in scattered locations in Europe, Australia, and South America.

<i>Arnica cordifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

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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.

<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>Bistorta bistortoides</i> Species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae

Bistorta bistortoides is a perennial herb in the buckwheat and knotweed family Polygonaceae.

<i>Lupinus sericeus</i> Species of legume

Lupinus sericeus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name silky lupine or Pursh's silky lupine. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Arizona and east to Alberta and Colorado.

<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.

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 lanata, with the common name lanate balsamroot, is a species of plant in the tribe Heliantheae of the family Asteraceae native to California.

<i>Wyethia amplexicaulis</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae

Wyethia amplexicaulis is a common herbaceous perennial plant from the northwestern United States called northern wyethia, northern mule ears, or black sunflower. Because of its tendency to grow together in dense colonies and its large, showy flowering heads it is a well known western wildflower that is often photographed. It is disliked by range managers because its leaves are not very palatable to large herbivores including livestock.

References

  1. ↑ "Balsamorhiza sagittata (Pursh) Nutt.". The Global Compositae Checklist (GCC)– via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  2. ↑ "Herb: Oregon Sunflower".
  3. ↑ "Balsamorhiza sagittata - (Pursh.)Nutt".
  4. 1 2 "Balsamorhiza sagittata". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Spellenberg, Richard (2001) [1979]. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region (rev ed.). Knopf. pp. 358–359. ISBN   978-0-375-40233-3.
  6. ↑ Klinkenberg, Brian, ed. (2014). "Balsamorhiza sagittata". E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
  7. ↑ Giblin, David, ed. (2015). "Balsamorhiza sagittata". WTU Herbarium Image Collection. Burke Museum, University of Washington. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
  8. ↑ Keil, David J. (2012). "Balsamorhiza sagittata". In Jepson Flora Project (ed.). Jepson eFlora. The Jepson Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley . Retrieved 2015-02-07.
  9. ↑ Weber, William A. (2006). "Balsamorhiza sagittata". 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.
  10. 1 2 Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. pp. 146, 148. ISBN   0-87842-280-3. OCLC   25708726.
  11. 1 2 3 McWilliams, Jack (2002). "Balsamorhiza sagittata". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
  12. ↑ Sullivan, Steven. K. (2015). "Balsamorhiza sagittata". Wildflower Search. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
  13. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Balsamorhiza sagittata". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
  14. 1 2 "Arrow Leafed Balsamroot Wildflower". Archived from the original on 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  15. ↑ Fagan, Damian (2019). Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert. Guilford, CT: FalconGuides. p. 104. ISBN   978-1-4930-3633-2. OCLC   1073035766.
  16. ↑ Lyons, C. P. (1956). Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in Washington (1st ed.). Canada: J. M. Dent & Sons. pp. 148, 196.
  17. ↑ Vizgirdas, Ray (2006). Wild Plants of the Sierra Nevada . Reno: University of Nevada, Reno. p.  185.
  18. 1 2 Nyerges, Christopher (2017). Foraging Washington: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods. Guilford, CT: Falcon Guides. ISBN   978-1-4930-2534-3. OCLC   965922681.
  19. ↑ University of Michigan - Dearborn, Native American Ethnobotany: Balsamorhiza sagittata
  20. ↑ Moerman, Daniel (2010). Native American Food Plants: An Ethnobotanical Dictionary. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 62–63.
  21. ↑ Schiemann, Donald Anthony, Wildflowers of Montana, page 238, Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula, 2005.
  22. ↑ "Visual identity & logo request". City of Kelowna. 2016-05-19. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
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