Arrow-leaved balsam root

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Arrow-leaved balsam root
Arrowleaf balsamroot 0023.jpg

Arrow-leaved balsam root ( Balsamorhiza sagittata )

Systematics
Order : Astern-like (Asterales)
Family : Daisy family (Asteraceae)
Subfamily : Asteroideae
Tribe : Heliantheae
Genre : Balsam roots ( Balsamorhiza )
Type : Arrow-leaved balsam root
Scientific name
Balsamorhiza sagittata
( Pursh ) Nutt.

The balsamorhiza sagittata ( Balsamorhiza sagittata ) is a plant from the genus Balsamorhiza in the subfamily of Asteroideae within the family of Compositae (Asteraceae). It is native to western North America . It was used in folk medicine and as a food by indigenous peoples of North America.

description

Habit and stalked leaves
Habit, leaves and inflorescence
Underside of the leaf with details of the leaf veins and the indument
Involucre
Habitus in the habitat
Outer bracts pushed aside so that you can see the inner bracts
Flower head with bright yellow, three-lobed ray-flowers and darker tubular flowers
Achenes
Habitus in the habitat
Habitus in the habitat

Appearance and leaf

Balsamorhiza sagittata grows as a long-lived, perennial herbaceous plant and usually reaches heights of 20 to 40 (15 to 65) centimeters. It forms thick fleshy taproots , which reach a diameter of about 10 centimeters and a maximum depth in the ground of about 2.7 meters and usually branches only from a depth of 15 centimeters. These lateral roots first grow up to 1 meter in the horizontal and then up to 1.5 meters in depth. The older parts of the taproot are covered with bark furrowed up to 13 millimeters deep . A branched stem axis (caudex) is formed in the soil . The above-ground stalk is mostly unbranched. The above-ground parts of the plant are more or less short woolly and hairy with tiny glands.

The leaves, mostly arranged in a basal rosette and a few alternately distributed on the stem, are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The simple leaf blade of the basal leaves is rounded triangular or broad-triangular with a length of 20 to 50 centimeters or a length of 5 to 25 centimeters and a width of 3 to 15 centimeters with a more or less heart-shaped and more or less spear-shaped blade base and a pointed to pointed or blunt upper end and smooth leaf margin. The basal leaves have a softly hairy upper side and a short woolly to finely hairy underside; at least as long as the leaves are young, the underside of the leaves is dense, short, silvery to white or gray-green, silky to woolly hairy, there are also mostly glandular hairs ( indument ). The stem leaves are linear to obverse-lanceolate.

Flowering time, inflorescence, flower and fruit

The flowering time in California extends from May to August and for North America, depending on the location, flowering times are usually from May to June (April to July). It's one of the most spectacular aspects of spring bloom in the northwestern United States.

On an upright, long inflorescence stem there are usually one, rarely two to three or even a few cup-shaped inflorescences . The basket base (recipe) is flat. In the hemispherical to top-shaped basket shell (involucre) with a diameter of 12 to 25 millimeters there are two to four rows of durable bracts . The outer bracts are more or less woolly hairy and with a length of usually 2 to 2.5 (1.5 to over 3) centimeters and a width of 4 to 9 millimeters lanceolate-oblong to obscure-lanceolate, linear or egg-shaped with a blunt to pointed upper end. The outer bracts reach or protrude beyond the inner bracts, which have pointed to pointed upper ends.

The flower head contains female, fertile ray-flowers on the outside and many hermaphrodite, fertile tubular flowers (= disc-shaped flowers) on the inside. The conspicuous, yellow ray florets have a 2 to 4 centimeter long, three-pronged tongue. The yellow, 6 to 8 millimeter long tubular flowers have a short corolla tube and five corolla lobes. The stylus has two branches.

The smooth, bald, square achenes are elongated with a length of 7 to 9 millimeters. There is no pappus.

Chromosome set

The basic chromosome number is x = 19; there is diploidy , i.e. a chromosome number of 2n = 38.

ecology

The arrow-leaved balsam root is hemicryptophyte . It is a popular food for wild animals and domestic animals. Once the inflorescences and leaves have withered, specimens of this species are difficult to find. Young plants grow relatively slowly. In the best locations it takes three to four years for the first flowers to form and in locations with less rainfall it takes seven to eight years for the inflorescences to develop. After fires, the specimens drive out of their caudex and the wind delivers seeds.

If the inflorescences and fruit stands are not eaten by insects and grazing animals, many seeds can form. The seeds are spread by the wind and animals. There is research that no permanent seed bank is formed in the soil. The achenes are relatively large at 127,600 per kg.

Occurrence

The arrow-leaved balsam root ( Balsamorhiza sagittata ) is native to western North America. It occurs in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and western Alberta and in the US states of California , western South Dakota , Colorado , Idaho , Montana , Oregon , Washington , Wyoming , northern Arizona , northern and central California, Nevada and Utah .

Balsamorhiza sagittata , for example, is an element of the Great Basin Floral Province . It usually thrives at altitudes of 900 to 2500 (100 to 3000) meters. It occurs in the eastern, High Cascade Range , in the High Sierra Nevada to the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills.

illustration

Systematics

It was first described in 1814 under the name ( Basionym ) Buphthalmum sagittatum by Frederick Traugott Pursh in Flora Americae Septentrionalis, or, A systematic arrangement and description of the plants of North America. Volume 2, p. 564. The new combination to Balsamorhiza sagittata (Pursh) Nutt. was published by Thomas Nuttall in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society , New Series 7, p. 350 in 1840 . Other synonyms for Balsamorhiza sagittata (Pursh) Nutt. are: Balsamorhiza helianthoides (Nutt.) Nutt. Nutt , Espeletia helianthoides . , Espeletia sagittata (Pursh) Nutt.

The species of the subgenus Balsamorhiza subg. Balsamorhiza form hybrids at locations where they occur together . Natural hybrids are for example: Balsamorhiza × bonseri H.St. John (= Balsamorhiza sagittata × Balsamorhiza rosea ) and hybrids with Balsamorhiza carreyana , Balsamorhiza hookeri , Balsamorhiza incana and Balsamorhiza serata are known.

Ethnobotany - used by the indigenous peoples of North America

The natives of North America used the viscous sap as an antiseptic for smaller wounds. Many Indian tribes used parts of plants from Balsamorhiza sagittata in folk medicine : The Blackfoot used the smoke from the underground parts of the plant to relieve abdominal pain. The Blackfoot, Gosiute , Kutenai , Paiute , sanpoil tribe and Shoshoni used a wrap from the tap roots blisters, ulcers, insect bites, bruises and wounds to treat. Root infusions were used by the Cheyenne and Flathead to treat fever, whooping cough, and tuberculosis, and to relieve urinary problems. Root decoction was used by the Cheyenne , Miwok , Shoshoni and Paiute for headache and stomach ache , rheumatism , sexually transmitted diseases and served as an eye wash and obstetrics. The Flathead and Okanagan- Colleville tribes used wraps made from the leaves to treat burns. The seeds were eaten for dysentery . Balsamorhiza sagittata is even used in today's herbalism because of its medicinal properties. The head was rubbed with root infusions to encourage hair growth.

Basically, all parts of the plant are edible, but the sap gives them a bitter taste. The cooked taproots, on the other hand, are described as appetizing and not very bitter, even sweet. The Flathead , Kutenai , Montana , Nez Percé , Okanagan-Colville , Paiute , Thompson, and Ute tribes ate the leaves and young stems raw or cooked. The seeds were eaten raw or ground into flour to bake cakes and bread. Cooking oil was obtained from the seeds and the seeds were mixed with other foods. The seeds can be dried or roasted. The seeds were a main food for ( Atsugewi , Gosiute, Klamath , Miwok, Montana, Nez Perce, Okanagan-Colville, Paiute and Thompson tribes). The tap roots of Balsamorhiza sagittata were dried into flour or roasted. Slow bake is best, the flathead have the tap roots baked in the hearth for at least three days. Cooked taproots were stored dry and were soaked overnight before being used. Roasted taproots can serve as a coffee substitute. The young above-ground parts of the plant can be used as a salad or as a culinary herb. The large leaf blades and stems are eaten cooked; larger amounts work as a sleep aid . Peeled young stems can be eaten raw.

The indigenous peoples of North America used the large, hairy leaves for insulation in shoes to keep their feet warm.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Jack McWilliams, 2002: Balsamorhiza sagittata - data sheet at FEIS = Fire Effects Information System , online. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j data sheet at Jepson eFlora .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l William A. Weber: Balsamorhiza : Balsamorhiza sagittata. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 21 - Magnoliophyta: Asteridae (in part): Asteraceae, part 3. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, June 30, 2006, ISBN 0-19-530565-5 , p. 95.
  4. ↑ Data sheet at Wildflowers Guide . ( Memento of the original from December 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wildflowers-guide.com
  5. ↑ a b Balsamorhiza sagittata in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ Pursh 1814 scanned in at biodiversitylibrary.org .
  7. ↑ Nuttall scanned in at biodiversitylibrary.org in 1840 .
  8. ↑ Balsamorhiza sagittata at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed January 22, 2014.
  9. ↑ Balsamorhiza sagittata at Global Compositae Checklist .
  10. ^ A b c Gregory L. Tilford: Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West . Mountain Press, Hong Kong 1997, ISBN 0-87842-359-1 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  11. ↑ a b D. Tilley, L. St. John & N. Shaw, 2012: Plant Guide for arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata) of the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service , Aberdeen Plant Materials Center, Aberdeen, Idaho 83210. Full text PDF.
  12. ↑ a b c d e f g h Balsamorhiza sagittata at Plants For A Future . Retrieved on 2014-23-01.
  13. ↑ a b Data sheet on the edibility of Northern Bushcraft .

Web links

Commons : Balsam Root ( Balsamorhiza sagittata )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files