arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata) - harvesting and uses

Similar to the Oregon grape (Mahonia aquilfolia or M. nervosa) thread I started, I'd like one to pull together pictures and information all about harvesting and using arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata).


(Picture from this post.)

A friend posted this great article about using the plant, Arrowleaf Balsamroot Provides Medicine and Nutrition for the Lean Times, by Stephen Christensen, MD, and while I've heard all parts of the plant are edible, I have only found the seeds to be mildly pleasing to eat (albeit tiny) the rest of the plant is BITTER. Since I really love this abundant spring perennial on our property, this article gave loads of ideas on how and why to use the plant more than just nibbling the seeds.

Christensen writes:

If you have a bent for chemistry, you might be interested in some of the compounds that are believed to confer Balsamroot’s salutary powers. According to Michael Moore, author of Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West, both the stems and roots of Balsamroot contain an array of flavonoids, including 7-methyl-ether and 6-hydroxykaempferol, inulin, glycans, resins and terebinthine principles (mainly in the root), and caffeic acids similar to those found in Echinacea.

Though I'm most excited to use the dried leaves to help heal wounds as Christensen suggests. We are talking about making an herbal wound healing powder out of arrowleaf balsamroot, yarrow, lavender, oregon grape, comfrey...I'm not sure what else.


(Our "caldera.")

Also, from this post came another great suggestion:

Dennis Lanigan wrote:Jocelyn, Many of my friends have cut up the roots and gently heated them in some raw honey. Here's an example of this: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.652955961402093.1073741826.158010274230000&type=3

You may also want to check out Michael Moore's Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West which also describes how to make this arrowleaf balsam honey. It's amazing for lung problems and colds. http://www.amazon.com/Medicinal-Plants-Mountain-Michael-Moore/dp/0890134545

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has a page dedicated to arrow-leaf balsamroot, which includes more natural history and uses of the plant. Here's one excerpt:

Native Americans relied on all parts of arrow-leaf balsamroot for food. Young leaves and shoots were peeled and eaten raw, boiled or steamed. The peeled roots have a bitter, strongly pine-scented sap. When cooked for several days (roasted or steamed) the root became edible and was often ground into meal and mixed with grease and made into cakes, or mixed with powdered berries and eaten with a spoon. The small, sunflower-like seeds were dried or roasted and pounded. The plant was also used for medicinal purposes, with the leaves being used as a poultice for burns, the roots boiled and the solution applied as a salve for wounds, cuts and bruises, and a tea derived from the roots used as a treatment for tuberculosis and whooping cough. Today, it is added to muffins, breads and granola, and can also serve as an emergency survival food. Modern herbal practitioners may use the root as an immunostimulant or expectorant.

How do you use this lovely plant?

Jocelyn, you mentioned that the leaves are bitter. If you waited for the plant to bloom that may have been the reason. Try the young leaves and shoots, that may help. If you still use the bitter ones, try scrambling eggs into the steamed greens.

Liz Hoxie wrote:Jocelyn, you mentioned that the leaves are bitter. If you waited for the plant to bloom that may have been the reason. Try the young leaves and shoots, that may help. If you still use the bitter ones, try scrambling eggs into the steamed greens.

I tried the leaves last year and now I can't recall if it was before they bloomed though I thought it was. I will try again. Thanks for the tip, Liz!

I know this for lambs quarters (Chenopodium album) and sheep sorrel (Rumex acetocella) which turn really awful tasting after they seed, though it's not as much of an issue with our dandelions (which are simply less bitter after a good rain), so I forgot. The reminder helps!

The bitterness tends to hit ALL leafy greens as they bolt. My mother would see a lettuce plant starting to bolt, pull it up, and harvest the whole plant. Usually at the end of the season we'd have a BIG wilted lettuce salad. The bitterness was part of the flavor.

Thanks for posting this! Where I live there’s about three different types of Balsamroot growing in abundance, Arrowleaf being one of them. I’m hoping to start getting familiar with how to use them.

Arrowleaf balsamroot seeds require cold stratification of about 3 months, so I recommend planting them outdoors in the fall.

Joseph Lofthouse do you eat the roots?

I’m looking for some recipes of tincture, powders ,oils   I done know the   Ratios it make them Or how much to use for each ailment. Any help would be appropriated.

Ricardo De Yakima wrote:Joseph Lofthouse do you eat the roots?

Oh heavens no! That's about like eating walnut roots....

For those of you living on the west coast of the United States (northern CA through WA) and in BC there is another very similar plant that does a bit better here than arrowleaf balsamroot. Deltoid balsamroot looks about the same as arrowleaf balsamroot (leaves are a bit different in shape) and it's also edible. Young shoots can be harvested, the roots can be used and the seeds can be used. I planted a bunch of it last fall on my property and it's all coming up in one of my more open food forests. Can't wait to see it in bloom! I grew up in eastern WA and always loved seeing arrowleaf balsamroot in bloom--deltoid balsamroot is a great alternative now that I live in western WA.

https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Balsamorhiza+deltoidea

My native friend told me that as a kid they would peel the fuzzy skins off the young flower stalks (before they bloom) and eat them. He showed me how,  and they taste like celery. Its a crunchy refreshing snack during a walk in the woods!

Is this page still in operation?  I need some information on where, in the Portland area. to find growing Arrowleaf balsamroot.  

Snake River Seed Cooperative sells seeds of Arrowleaf Balsamroot.

I am hoping to spread balsamroot on my south facing hill in western Montana. I see that it needs cold stratification, so plant in the fall. When is the ideal time to harvest seeds? I have read that once the flower starts to dry up, the seeds quickly disperse themselves and harvesting from the dried flower heads is less than productive. Any tips?

Thanks!

These beautiful plants are in bloom all around my town right now. My herb teacher, Doc Jones, says it's medicinal properties are just Luke ecchinacea, except with a yang instead of yin Chinese energy. He also says the roots are SO strong and hard to cut that he uses a ban saw to cut them and make that honey. Or a tincture. I wonder if you can use the flowers, like you can ecchinacea?

I harvest seeds in late May or early June, a few weeks after the plants flower.

To harvest seeds, I watch the flowers closely, checking every few days to find the right harvest window.

The mature seeds sit inside the seed head like peas in a bowl. Harvesting consists of turning the heads upside down over a bucket. I also harvest by hitting the heads with my hand, jostling the seeds to fall into the bucket.

If the wind blows strong, the seeds get dislodged by the shaking. When the air stills, the seeds stay in the pods for many days.

I harvest from a hill that changes 700 feet in elevation over 1/2 mile, and it has slopes facing every direction, and some areas get shaded by trees, creating lots of micro-climates. The seed in each ripens at different times, therefore, if the seeds have fallen from pods in one micro-climate, I look to nearby micro-climates. I harvest over about two weeks.

I take care to avoid harvesting grass or weed seeds.

Photos from today.

Thank you Joseph! I harvested about 10% of the flowers a couple days ago, will do again twice more in the next week or two, then leave the rest for the birds. I appreciate the advice, as does my dry south facing hill.