Sweet Arrowleaf Balsamroot; 🌻

PNW Fairy | Alexandra Hagel
Feb 16
2 min read

Sweet arrowleaf balsamroot;

Delicate, strong, and beautifully connected to the earth. One of the first signs of seasons changing, a true beacon of mountainside light + intrinsically valuable to the higher elevation ecosystems.

Balsamorhiza Sagittata, praised for its strong medicinal antiseptic sap; long woody taproots filled with flowing veins of rich golden resin twist deep into the earth. The resin from this plant can soothe the throat and lungs and boost immunity, and the fuzzy silver arrow shaped-leaves can be used on wounds as a healing salve.

Remember- this is a very delicate, slow growing plant. Larger patches can be up to 80 years old! Please always practice conscious foraging rules and LNT practices when you can.

My favorite foraging book on PNW medicinal plants. My dad gave it to me for Christmas a few years back. I own a lot of my love for the wilds to him.

Beautiful sweeping views of the Columbia River Gorge from these native lands.

That’s all, thanks for listening to my TED Talk *steps off toadstool*

🌼🌿

ALSO for those of you asking - the meaning behind the Western Red Cedar false identity:

A real or ‘true’ cedar (belonging to the genus cedrus in the pinaceae family) has short needle clusters forming near the branch, whereas false cedars have longer fan-like foliage, like the Western Red Cedar (thuja plicata). ‘Cedar’ is actually a more loosely used term describing many trees of different plant families 🌲