Balsamorhiza macrolepis
Balsamorhiza incana
big scale balsam root, California balsamroot
hoary balsamroot, woolly balsamroot
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).
blades white to grayish, lance-ovate to oblong, 10–45 × 3–7(–10) cm (1-pinnatifid, lobes ovate to lanceolate, 20–50 × 5–25 mm), bases broadly cuneate to truncate, margins entire or serrate (plane, not distinctly ciliate), apices obtuse, faces usually densely, sometimes sparsely, tomentose.
hemispheric, (15–)20–30 mm diam.
hemispheric, 20–25(–30) mm.
20–30+ mm.
20–40(–50+) mm.
ovate or oblong to lanceolate, 12–30(–40) mm, usually surpassing inner, apices obtuse to acute or attenuate.
ovate to lanceolate or linear, 15–20 mm, shorter than inner, apices acute to attenuate (margins ± ciliate).
usually borne singly.
usually borne singly.
= 38.
Balsamorhiza macrolepis
Balsamorhiza incana
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.)
Balsamorhiza incana hybridizes with B. sagittata.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
