Hooker balsamroot, also known as cutleaf balsamroot and cutleaf 

 sunflower, was named in honor of Dr. William J. Hooker (1785- 

 1865), the very distinguished British botanist who first described 

 this plant as well as the genus Balsarrwrhiza itself. Hooker balsam- 

 root ranges from California and Nevada- to Washington and Idaho. 

 It grows on dry open flats and hillsides, rocky scabland areas, and 

 gravelly banks within the sagebrush, juniper, and ponderosa pine 

 belts up to elevations of about 5.500 feet. 



As a forage plant, Hooker balsamroot is of relatively minor impor- 

 tance but is worthy of mention as being more or less typical of the 

 four or five species of cleft-leaved balsamroots. Its distribution is 

 not uniform, and usually the stand is sparse. Sometimes these plants 

 are conspicuous in small isolated patches on hard-packed clay flats 

 and on overgrazed or depleted areas. They are among the first plants 

 to produce leaves and flowers in the spring and are probably of some 

 value on the spring ranges, where they have been reported as being 

 from worthless to good in palatability for all classes of livestock. 

 Cattle, horses, and sheep usually graze the leafage lightly and often 

 eat the flowers. Usually the plants become dry and worthless by 

 midsummer. 



Both the generic name Balsamorhiza (~balsainon= balsam; rkiza= 

 root) and the common name balsamroot refer to the thickened, 

 resinous taproots common to all the western species. These roots 

 have a thin corky bark and a fibrous yellowish center, and were 

 once used by the Indians for food. The blades of the leaves are 

 roughly arrowhead-shaped but are cleft to the midrib into numerous 

 shaggy segments. The dull-green to silvery-gray leaves are covered 

 with short hairs, are 6 to 12 inches long, and somewhat suggest those 

 of the common dandelion in habit of growth. They are all basal and 

 grow in the form of a flattened rosette or sometimes in a more erect 

 tuft. The flower stalks, sometimes over a foot tall, are usually leaf- 

 less, and each one bears a single sunflow^erlike blossom. These flower 

 heads are iy 2 to 2^ inches across and consist of yellow ray flowers 

 and a deep golden-colored disk made up of numerous small flowers 

 grouped upon a common, chaffy, slightly convex, or flattened base. 

 The involucre, a series of elongated, pointed, leafy bracts, under- 

 neath the flower head, varies from slightly hairy to white woolly. 



CUTLEAF BALSAMROOT (Balsamorhi'za macrophyl'la) 



Cutleaf balsamroot, known also as cleft-leaf balsamroot, a rank 

 growing species, is the largest plant of this genus. Its stalked (petio- 

 late) leaves, which grow in clumps to a height of 2 feet or more, are 

 large, as the specific name macrophylla ( macro long; phylla 

 leaves) intimates, rich green in color, and slashed to the midrib into 

 many lobes with hairy edges. The yellow blossoms are large and 

 showy. This plant grows in scattered stands from Nevada and Utah 

 through Wyoming to Montana, in the sagebrush, oakbrush, and pon- 

 derosa pine belts, and even in the aspen belt. The leaves and flowers 

 are eaten by all classes of livestock with fair to moderate relish. 



