Balsamorhiza hookeri

Balsamorhiza hookeri (Hooker's balsamroot) is a North American species of perennial plant in the sunflower family. It grows in the Great Basin and neighboring regions in the western United States.[2]:115 It is found in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.[3][4][5]

Balsamorhiza hookeri
Balsamorhiza hookeri in flower on Badger Mountain, Douglas County Washington
Scientific classification
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 hirsuta Nutt.
  • Balsamorhiza platylepis W.M.Sharp
  • Heliopsis balsamorhiza Hook.
Balsamorhiza hookeri, photographed in the Wasatch foothills, Provo, Utah.

Description

Leaves and stems

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]:115

The stem is leafless and hairy.[2]:115

Inflorescence and fruit

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.[2]:115

Habitat and range

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]:115

Ecological interactions

It tends to grow in rockier habitats than its cousin, arrow-leaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata).[2]:115 It hybridizes with arrow-leaf balsamroot, which has arrow shaped leaves.[2]:115 The result is a plant with leaves that are arrow shaped, but also deeply divided.[2]:115

References

  1. "Balsamorhiza hookeri (Hook.) Nutt.". The Global Compositae Checklist (GCC) via The Plant List.
  2. Great Basin Wildflowers, Laird R. Blackwell, 2006, Morris Book Publishing LLC., ISBN 0-7627-3805-7
  3. "Balsamorhiza hookeri". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  4. "Balsamorhiza hookeri". Calflora: Information on California plants for education, research and conservation, with data contributed by public and private institutions and individuals, including the Consortium of California Herbaria. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database via www.calflora.org.
  5. Weber, William A. (2006). "Balsamorhiza hookeri". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). 21. New York and Oxford via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
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