Flora of North America species comparison

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Balsamorhiza serrata

Balsamorhiza sericea

serrate balsam root, serrated balsamroot, serrrate balsamroot, tooth balsamroot

silky balsamroot, silvery balsamroot
Habit Plants 10–20(–30) cm. Plants 10–30(–40) cm.
Basal leaves

blades pale green to gray-green, lanceolate or lance-ovate, 5–15(–20+) × 2–5(–10) cm (earliest sometimes, later seldom, pinnately lobed, mostly toward tips), bases usually cuneate to subtruncate, sometimes cordate, margins usually dentate to serrate, apices acute, faces hirsutulous to scabrous.

blades silvery, lanceolate or lance-ovate, 9–30 × 2–7 cm (1-pinnatifid, lobes oblong to oblanceolate, 5–35 × 3–17 mm), bases cuneate, ultimate margins usually entire (plane or weakly revolute, obscurely, if at all, ciliate), apices rounded to acute, faces densely sericeous.
Involucres

campanulate, 15–25 mm diam.

campanulate to hemispheric, 11–20+ mm diam.
Ray laminae

(20–)30–40.

15–20 mm (adaxially puberulous on veins).
Outer phyllaries

lanceolate to lance-triangular, 10–22 mm, shorter than inner, apices acute to attenuate (margins ciliate).

broadly ovate to triangular-ovate, 12–20 mm, slightly surpassing inner, apices acuminate to attenuate (margins not ciliate).
Heads

usually borne singly.

borne singly.
2n

= 38.

Balsamorhiza serrata

Balsamorhiza sericea
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Basaltic scablands, sagebrush scrub, openings in forests, meadow borders Serpentine outcrops, among surface rocks, in crevices, hillsides, dry streamsides among cobbles
Elevation (1000–)1400–1500 m ((3300–)4600–4900 ft) 400–1800 m (1300–5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Balsamorhiza serrata hybridizes with B. careyana. Leaves of the hybrids tend to be prostrate rather than erect. Most of the hybrids display the larger size of B. careyana and lack the pubescence of the heads; serrata-like plants never develop more than a single head nor do they have the pubescence of the cypselae.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Balsamorhiza sericea hybridizes with B. deltoidea.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 96. FNA vol. 21, p. 96.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Balsamorhiza Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Balsamorhiza > subg. Balsamorhiza
Sibling taxa
B. careyana, B. deltoidea, B. hispidula, B. hookeri, B. incana, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. sericea
B. careyana, B. deltoidea, B. hispidula, B. hookeri, B. incana, B. lanata, B. macrolepis, B. macrophylla, B. rosea, B. sagittata, B. serrata
Name authority A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 56: 479. (1913) W. A. Weber: Phytologia 50: 358. (1982)
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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