Balsamorhiza macrolepis

Balsamorhiza macrolepis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Heliantheae
Genus: Balsamorhiza
Species: B. macrolepis
Binomial name
Balsamorhiza macrolepis
W.M.Sharp

Balsamorhiza macrolepis is a species of flowering plant in the sunflower tribe of the aster family, known by the common name California balsamroot. It is found only in California, where it grows in dry, open habitat, mostly in mountainous areas, mostly in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada and in the eastern Coast Ranges near San Francisco Bay. It is now becoming rare in the Coast Ranges.[1][2][3]

Description

Balsamorhiza macrolepis is a taprooted perennial herb growing erect 20 to 60 centimeters tall. The large lobed leaves are lance-shaped to oval and the largest, generally toward the base of the plant, may approach 50 centimeters (20 inches) in length. They are bright to dull grayish-green and coated in fine hairs.[1]

The inflorescence bears a single flower head lined with hairy, glandular phyllaries up to 4 centimeters long. The head has a center of yellowish disc florets and a fringe of pointed yellow ray florets each 2 or 3 centimeters long.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Flora of North America
  2. ↑ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  3. ↑ Calflora taxon report, University of California: Balsamorhiza macrolepis (California balsamroot, big scale balsam root)
  4. ↑ Sharp, Ward McClintic 1935. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 22(1): 132–133

External links


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