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]

Balsamorhiza hookeri
Balsamorhiza hookeri in flower on Badger Mountain, Douglas County Washington
Scientific classification Edit this 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

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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

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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

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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]

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References

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  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 Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online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. ^ a b c d e f g h Great Basin Wildflowers, Laird R. Blackwell, 2006, Morris Book Publishing LLC., ISBN 0-7627-3805-7. p. 115.
  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. 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. ^ a b Burke Herbarium Image Collection| http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Balsamorhiza%20hookeri
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