Balsamorhiza. composite. 301 



The large roots of all the species, especially those of the second section, are em- 

 ployed by the Indians for food : when cooked upon hot stones, or otherwise, they 

 acquire a sweet and rather agreea):)le taste. Nultall, i^-c. 



§ 1. Leaves pinnatifid : scapes hearing a single head. 



1. B. Hookeri (Nutt. ! 1. c.) : silky-piibescent or canescent ; leaves with 

 a lanceolate outline, ])innately parled ; the segments very numerous, crowd- 

 ed, linear, sparingly toothed or incised, or the lower pinnatifid, and the up- 

 permost confluent; scapes several from the same root; scales of the involu- 

 cre narrowly lanceolate, acute, numerous, the exterior somewhat spreading. 

 — Heliopsis ? balsamorhiza. Hook. ! fl. Bor.-Ain. \. p. 310. 



ji. leaves ovate-lanceolate, sinuate-piunalifid and crenate-serrate. — Heli- 

 opsis (Balsamorhiza) terebinthacca, Hook. I. c. 7 (A state with the seg- 

 ments more or less confluent, Avliich often occurs in a portion of the leaves.) 



Plains of the Oregon, common, Douglas ! Nultall ! — Stem at first 6-8 

 inches, in fruit 12-18 inches higb, naked, or with one or two rudimentary or 

 small pinnatifid leaves. Rays 12-18. Root exuding a copious limpid resin 

 when wounded, with a strong turpentine odor. — By an error of the press, in 

 Hooker's character, the scales of the involucre, instead of the radical leaves, 

 are said to equal the stem in lengtb : the latter is the case when the flowers 

 appear; but in fruit the scape is much longer. 



2. B. hirsuta (Nutt.! I.e.): somewhat hirsute, not canescent; leaves 

 with an elongated lanceolate circumscription, pinnately divided ; the divis- 

 ions lanceolate-oblong or cuneiform, pinnatifid, often 2-3-parted, with rough 

 hirsute-ciliate margins ; petioles dilated and very woolly at the base ; scales 

 of the involucre broadly lanceolate, lanuginous-ciliate, closely imbricated in 

 4 or 5 series. 



Dry plains near the Blue Mountains of Oregon, and in the Grande Ronde 

 prairie, Nultall ! — Leaves about a foot long. Scape often entirely naked. 



3. B. incana (Nutt. ! 1. c.) : densely canescent-tomentose throughout ; 

 leaves with an oblong or deltoid-lanceolate circumscription, pinnately di- 

 vided ; the divisions oval or oblong, entire, or with the lower margin some- 

 what toothed, the uppermost confluent; scales of the involucre imbricated in 

 2-3 series; chalTof the receptacle much shorter than the flowers. 



In the Rocky Mountains, Nultall! — Scape 6-8 inches high, bearing a 

 very showy head ; the rays 12-14, more than an inch long, deep yellow, 

 sometimes with infertile filaments, as also in the other species. 



4. B. macrojihylla (Nutt. ! 1. c.) : nearly glabrous; leaves oblong or oval, 

 pinnately parted ; the divisions lanceolate-oblong, entire, sometimes slightly 

 lobed or toothed at the base, with somewhat ciliate and scabrous margins ; 

 the uppermost confluent ; scales of the involucre in about 3 series, lanceo- 

 late, the exterior foliaceous and reflexed. 



Rocky Mountains, near the sources of the Colorado of the West, Nullall ! 

 — Leaves and stem sprinkled with minute glandular atoms ; the segments 

 of the latter 2-3 inches long, sometimes nearly an inch wide. 



§ 2. Leaves entire or crenate, haslate-cordate, or the few cauline tapering at 

 the base, all on long j)etioles : scapes hearing 1 to 3 heads: receptacle 

 broad and flat.— Artokhiza, Nutt. (Espeletia. Null., not of H. B. S^ K.) 



5. B. sagittata {Nuil.l 1. c.) : canescently tomentose ; radical leaves cor- 

 date-hastate or cordate-ovate, entire, acute, somewhat 3-nerved at the base ; 

 the cauline linear, attenuate below ; exterior scales of the involucre longer 

 than the iianer, spreading, lanceolate, densely tomentose ; rays 20-24. — 



