Laphamia bisetosa.
Gum Plant—Grindelia latifolia.
Arrow-leaf Balsam-root—Balsamorrhiza sagittata.
Balsam-root
Balsamorrhìza Hóokeri
Yellow
Spring
West, except Ariz.
Rather handsome, though a coarse plant, over a foot tall, with hairy, dull green or grayish leaves, crisp and harsh to the touch, variously lobed and cut, chiefly in a clump at the root. The flowers are numerous, from an inch and a half to over two inches across, with deep orange-yellow rays, and grow singly on long flower-stalks. This flourishes on dry plains and mesas.
There are several kinds of Wyethia, resembling Balsam-roots, but their thick roots not resinous.
Yellows, Mule-ears
Wyéthia amplexicàulis
Yellow
Spring, summer
Utah, Nev., etc.
A robust and exceedingly handsome plant, one or two feet tall, with rich foliage and gorgeous flowers. The leaves are stiffish, dark rich green, smooth but somewhat sticky, often toothed; the stem-leaves alternate, their bases partly clasping, and the root-leaves a foot or two long and two or three inches broad, with leaf-stalks. The flower-heads are about four inches across, with bright yellow rays, almost orange color, and the center with three rows of yellow disk-flowers, surrounding a clump of pointed, overlapping, stiff, greenish scales in the middle. This sometimes forms immense patches on dry hills at rather high altitudes, as far east as Colorado. It is sometimes called Compass Plant, because its leaves are thought to point North and South, and the Indian name is "Pe-ik."
Woolly Wyethia
Wyéthia móllis
Yellow
Summer
California
Not so handsome as the last, but a striking plant, from one to four feet high, with gray-green, velvety foliage, all covered with soft wool, forming large clumps of leaves, from six to fifteen inches long. The flowers are two or three inches across, with orange rays and very woolly involucres. This is common in dry places in Yosemite.
There are several kinds of Rudbeckia, all North American.