Carey's Balsamroot

Hybrids involving Balsamorhiza careyana and B. deltoidea occur near the Columbia River Gorge; intermediates are found to the east and south. In northern Oregon, plants in some populations have glabrous cypselae and some populations are mixed. The hairiness may come from B. rosea; B. rosea and B. careyana may hybridize profusely, producing mostly plants with the stature of B. careyana and with the relatively short, brick-red ray corollas of B. rosea. Hybridization also occurs, occasionally, between B. careyana and B. sagittata; B. careyana also hybridizes with any species of sect. Balsamorhiza with which it comes in contact. Plants called Balsamorhiza careyana var. intermedia usually have crenate leaf margins and glabrous cypselae.

Plants (15–)20–60 cm. Basal leaves: blades green, rounded-deltate or deltate to triangular-deltate, 15–25 × 6–15 cm, bases cordate or hastate to truncate, margins usually entire, sometimes crenate (to dentate near bases), apices acute to attenuate, faces finely hispidulous to hirtellous (gland-dotted as well). Heads usually (2–)3+, sometimes borne singly. Involucres hemispheric to turbinate or campanulate, 12–20 mm diam. Outer phyllaries oblong to lanceolate or linear, 15–25 mm, usually surpassing inner, apices acute to attenuate. Ray laminae 20–30(–40) mm (cypselae strigose or glabrous). 2n = 38.

Balsamorhiza careyana var. intermedia Cronquist

Balsamorhiza careyana- closeup of flower and sepals

Balsamorhiza careyana is a species of flowering plant in the tribe Heliantheae of the family Asteraceae known by the common name Carey's balsamroot. It is native to northwestern United States Washington and Oregon where it grows in arid and desert regions east of the Cascades. It is very similar to a close relative Balsamorhiza sagittata, but its leaves are more sandpaper-like instead of soft and hairy, and it is probably more resistant to drought.