BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Balsamorhiza hookeri | Hooker Balsamroot 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Hooker balsamroot is a native, cool-season, perennial forb [25].  The
solitary flower heads are on stalks which generally reach 4 to 16 inches
(10-40 cm) in height [29].  The coarse, basal leaves reach 2 to 12
inches (5-30 cm) in length and 0.6 to 4 inches (1.5-10 cm) in width
[29].  Hooker balsamroot grows from a thick, carrotlike, resinous
taproot surmounted by a simple or occasionally few-branched crown
[12,27].  Fruit of Hooker balsamroot is a glabrous achene [29].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Published information on the regeneration of Hooker balsamroot is scant.

Regeneration characteristics may be similar to those of arrowleaf
balsamroot, which spreads almost entirely by animal-disseminated seed
[Shaw, pers. comm. 1987,21].  Hooker balsamroot may also regenerate
vegetatively from its taproot which is surmounted by a simple to
few-branched crown and from which new aerial stems arise each year [12].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Hooker balsamroot grows on dry plains and hillsides, gravelly banks, and
rocky outcrops in the foothills and lowlands within its range [4,27].
It occurs at elevations up to 5,500 feet (1,676 m) [27].  Elevational
distribution in two western states is as follows [5,9]:
                      
          from 4,300 to 9,000 feet (1,311-2,743 m) in UT
               6,500 to 8,000 feet (1,981-2,438 m) in CO



SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Hooker balsamroot is present in numerous sagebrush, pinyon-juniper,
ponderosa pine, and salt desert shrub climax communities.


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Hooker balsamroot begins growth and flowers early in the spring [27].

Related categories for Species: Balsamorhiza hookeri | Hooker Balsamroot