Flora of North America species comparison

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Balsamorhiza macrolepis

big scale balsam root, California balsamroot
Habit Plants 20–40(–60+) cm.
Basal leaves

blades green to gray-green, elliptic to lanceolate, 15–40+ × 4–14 cm (1–2-pinnatifid, primary lobes ovate to linear, 15–70 × 3–15 mm, usually lobed or toothed), bases cuneate to truncate, ultimate margins usually entire (slightly revolute, not ciliate), apices rounded to acute, faces strigillose to subvelutinous or tomentose (sometimes gland-dotted as well).
Involucres

hemispheric, (15–)20–30 mm diam.
Ray laminae

20–30+ mm.
Outer phyllaries

ovate or oblong to lanceolate, 12–30(–40) mm, usually surpassing inner, apices obtuse to acute or attenuate.
Heads

usually borne singly.

Balsamorhiza macrolepis
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Open, dry or moist, grassy or rocky slopes, valleys
Elevation 90–1400 m (300–4600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Balsamorhiza macrolepis grows in the western foothills of central Sierra Nevada and in the eastern San Francisco Bay area (there mostly extirpated). The tall habit, exhibiting gigas characteristics, suggests that, like B. macrophylla, this taxon may be a polyploid. No hybrids with other species have been noted.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 97.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Balsamorhiza
Sibling taxa
B. careyana, B. deltoidea, B. hispidula, B. hookeri, B. incana, B. lanata, B. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. sericea, B. serrata
Name authority W. M. Sharp: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 22: 132. (1935)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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