Photo at right of hairy balsamroot along old highway ascending into Blue
Mts. east of Pendleton, OR.......May 1999.
Hairy balsamroot is a perennial wildflower with a cluster of basal leaves and clusters of single-flowered stems. The flower is of a typical balsamroot, with a large central disk of yellow disk flowers surrounded by yellow ray flowers. There are typically 10 to 16 ray flowers, which may each be 25 to 45 mm in length. The involucral bracts immediately below the flower heads are distinctive in shape, with an ovate or lance-ovate base, abruptly narrowed to the reflexed tip (See photo below).
The stems are upright, generally leafless although there may be one pair of leaves just above the base. The stems may reach 20 - 50 cm in height. The numerous basal leaves are 20 to 40 cm long, pinnatifid, with the segments being once to twice pinnate (See photo below.).. The basal leaves are oblong or lanceolate in outline. The pubescence is not soft, but rather harsher than some other balsamroots.
Hairy balsamroot is found in dry open prairies and rocky outcrops in the foothills and lowlands.
Hairy balsamroot is found in eastern Oregon (primarily Union County) and also in northwestern Nevada. It is also found in Lassen County in California.
- 
- 
- 
- 
