View source for Balsamorhiza

{{Short description|Genus of plants in the sunflower family}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Balsamroot 
| image = Balsamorhiza sagittata whole 20070422.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Balsamorhiza sagittata]]''
| taxon = Balsamorhiza
| authority = [[William Jackson Hooker|Hook.]] ex [[Thomas Nuttall|Nutt.]]
}}
[[File:Balsamorhiza careyana Meeks Table.jpg|thumb|left|Leaves are mostly basal with long [[petiole (botany)|petioles]], entire as in this ''Balsamorhiza careyana'' individual, or with one to three pinnate lobes]]
'''''Balsamorhiza'''''<ref name="FNA">{{eFloras|1|103447|Balsamorhiza |first=William A. |last=Weber |volume=21}}</ref> is a genus of plants in the family [[Asteraceae]] known commonly as '''balsamroots'''.<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36318070#page/371/mode/1up Nuttall, Thomas. 1840.  Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, new series 7: 349–351] in English</ref><ref>{{Tropicos|40024432|Balsamorhiza|Hook. ex Nutt.}}</ref> These are perennials with fleshy [[taproot]]s and [[caudices]] bearing erect stems and large, basal leaves. Atop the tall stems are showy yellow sunflower-like blooms. Balsamroots are native to western [[North America]] ([[United States]] and [[Canada]]).

Native Americans used the sticky sap of this plant as a topical antiseptic for minor wounds.  The entire plant is edible and nutritious, but not necessarily enjoyable because it contains a bitter, strongly pine-scented sap. The large taproots produced by ''[[Balsamorhiza sagittata]]'' are edible and were harvested, dried, and ground into a starchy flour by Native Americans when other food plants were scarce. The plants' large taproots are reported to be very palatable and far less bitter than the above-ground parts of the plant.<ref name="ReferenceA">Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford, {{ISBN|0-87842-359-1}}</ref>

The plant grows on dry hillsides and dry open meadows throughout the Mountain West of North America.  The plant can be easily confused with species belonging to the genus ''[[Wyethia]]'' (mule's ears); and ''Wyethia'' and ''Balsamorhiza'' tend to have very similar appearances and flowering habits.  ''Balsamorhiza'' species are easily distinguished from ''Wyethia'' due to their very sharply lanced leaves which lack the ''fuzzy silver gray'' appearance of ''Wyethia'' species. ''[[Balsamorhiza sagittata]]'' is the most common and widespread species in the genus within the Mountain West of North America.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

Palatable to wildlife and livestock, this is a herb that decreases under grazing. Though once covering much of the arid west in spring, this common forb has become uncommon and even disappeared in some areas like the Snake River Plains. The presence of this plant can be used as an indicator of overall range health—fewer plants and flowers indicate over-utilization of pastures and/or allotments. Hillsides covered with these flowers and perennial [[bunchgrasses]] and [[Artemisia tridentata|sagebrush]] can quickly become wastelands of cheatgrass and tumblemustard if cattle or other stock overgraze, consuming the herb and grass energy reserves again and again until the plants individually die, while crushing their only shade.<ref>Tilley, D., St. John, L., and N. Shaw. 2012. [https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_basa3.pdf Plant Guide for Arrowleaf Balsamroot] (Balsamorhiza sagittata). USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service, Aberdeen Plant Materials Center. Aberdeen, Idaho 83210.</ref>

==Species and nothospecies==
There are about 13 species<ref name="FNA" /> and two [[nothospecies]]:<ref>{{ThePlantList |title=''Balsamorhiza'' |url=http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Compositae/Balsamorhiza/<!-- overriding automatically generated title and URL -->}}</ref><ref>{{BONAP |genus=Balsamorhiza |date=2014}}</ref>
* ''[[Balsamorhiza × bonseri]]'' - Washington State
* ''[[Balsamorhiza careyana]]'' - Carey's balsamroot - Washington, Oregon
* ''[[Balsamorhiza deltoidea]]'' - deltoid balsamroot - British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California
* ''[[Balsamorhiza hispidula]]'' - Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Arizona
* ''[[Balsamorhiza hookeri]]'' - Hooker's balsamroot - Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona
* ''[[Balsamorhiza incana]]'' - hoary balsamroot - Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington
* ''[[Balsamorhiza lanata]]'' - lanate balsamroot - Oregon, California
* ''[[Balsamorhiza macrolepis]]'' - California balsamroot - California 
* ''[[Balsamorhiza macrophylla]]'' - cutleaf balsamroot - Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Utah
* ''[[Balsamorhiza rosea]]'' - rosy balsamroot - Washington, Oregon
* ''[[Balsamorhiza sagittata]]'' - arrowleaf balsamroot - British Columbia, Alberta, much of western USA
* ''[[Balsamorhiza sericea]]'' - silky balsamroot - Oregon, California
* ''[[Balsamorhiza serrata]]'' - serrate balsamroot or toothed balsamroot - Nevada, Washington, Oregon, California
* ''[[Balsamorhiza terebinthacea]]'' - Washington, Oregon, California
* ''[[Balsamorhiza × tomentosa]]'' - Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/specieslist.cgi?where-genus=Balsamorhiza CalFlora Database: ''Balsamorhiza''] — ''species + images''.
*{{Jepson Manual |id=609,799 |link=1}}
*[https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=BALSA USDA Plants Profile for ''Balsamorhiza'']
*[http://www.usu.edu/weeds/plant_species/nativespecies/arrowleaf.html Arrowleaf Balsamroot- Utah State University]
{{Commons category|position=left|Balsamorhiza}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2473291}}

[[Category:Balsamorhiza| ]]
[[Category:Asteraceae genera]]
[[Category:Flora of Western Canada]]
[[Category:Flora of the Western United States]]
[[Category:Taxa named by William Jackson Hooker]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Thomas Nuttall]]