Flora Focus || Balsamroot

I really wish I could have made a little bouquet with all of the wildflowers blooming in Okanogan while I was there. These yellow ones were popping up everywhere. They are called Balsamroots and are like wild sunflowers that grow in clumps. If I would have should up just a week earlier, whole hillsides would have been covered in these blooms, but the majority of them had lived their lives and there were a couple left for me to enjoy.

Balsamroot
Botanical Name: Balsamorhiza
Flower: Spring blooming with yellow petals and a yellow center. Sunflower like in appearance.
Leaf: Large, arrowhead shaped leave with a long petiole. The top of the leaf is fuzzy.

This flower is native to western North America and was used a lot by Native Americans. Almost all of the plant can be eaten. The roots and young shoots can be baked or steamed, the seeds are rich in oil and are nutritious, and wildlife can eat the blooms. The root can also be used a coffee substitute. Plants are amazing.