arrowleaf balsamroot

noun

: a large, perennial composite herb (Balsamorhiza sagittata) native to the western U.S. and Canada that has heart-shaped to arrow-shaped leaves with velvety, grayish hairs and large, yellow-rayed flower heads resembling those of the sunflower

On the uplands, clumps of arrowleaf balsamroot raise their golden heads into the (occasionally) blue sky, mixed with the deep blue of larkspur and the pure white of chickweed blossoms like tiny stars in a sea of green grass.

—Stuart S. White, Great Falls (Montana) Tribune, 24 June 2010

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1915, in the meaning defined above

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