We know spring has arrived when we see the grayish-green, arrow shaped leaves of the Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata) emerge, poking straight up through the soil.
In April to May the bright yellow flowers dot the hillsides throughout the Inland Northwest and shout "Spring is here!” It is one of the most drought tolerant and hardy regional natives. Balsamroot thrives in both open, exposed slopes and forested areas so it calls the dry prairies, valleys and open-conifer land throughout the Inland Northwest as home.
It reaches deep into the soil to grow a taproot up to 8 feet long and 4 inches in diameter. Its longevity is not visible from its above ground appearance because its leaves emerge from an underground caudex, (the woody base on an herbaceous perennial), hiding evidence of its robust base and root system below the soil surface. The above the ground base can be as much as 24 inches in diameter. ‘Balsamroot’ refers to the aromatic scent of the large taproot.
The picture to the left is a bud emerging from the base of a four year old Arrowleaf Balsamroot.The picture below is a five year-old plant in our seed-increase plot.
Each 1 to 3 feet long flower stem holds up a large solitary yellow head. Each head has 8 to 25 rays around a yellow center disk. Dense, woolly hairs cover the large arrow-shaped basal leaves that can be up to 12 inches long and six inches wide. The woolly hairs and the deep tap root allow this amazing plant to survive our hot dry, summers for up to 100 years.
In our farm’s seed-increase plot we have a one row of this long-lived native. It may live to be 100 years old, but at the same time it can take up to 5 years to produce a flower! This row was planted in the snow of November 2008 as a test row. Arrowleaf Balsamroot requires 90 days of cool, moist weather (a process called stratification) in order to germinate and usually the germination is low. Low and behold, I think every seed we planted sprouted! The only area of our row with no plant survival is where we have a seasonal spring or groundwater seepage that flows from March until mid-May. Arrowleaf Balsamroot do not like wet feet!
We sell the seed we collect off of this row, as well as the seed we collect on our prairie land. This is the only native seed we sell on our farm that sold direct from the wild prairie and we limit the amount we sell. Most of the Arrowleaf Balsamroot sold on the U.S. market is collected from our public lands.
Historically, the whole plant was a food and medicinal source for Native Americans, but it is no longer commonly used for these purposes. Lewis and Clark wrote in their journals on three occasions in 1806 about the natives collecting the stems and eating them with preparations.
Of course the birds enjoy the large black seeds and the pollinators are attracted the large yellow flowers!
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