Colorful wildflowers emerge

The flowering plant above is arrowleaf balsamroot, a native to western North America and associated with sagebrush communities including basin big sagebrush.

The picture above was captured along the newly improved Odessa Craters Loop Trail on the hike hosted by the FBLA on Sunday, April 13.

The plant's extended bloom season of April through July creates colorful vistas of yellow daisy–like blossoms along the talus slopes of basalt cliffs and throughout the scrubland areas of our region. The leaf blades are mostly triangular in shape giving this plant the descriptive name "arrowleaf."

Many tribes used arrowleaf balsamroot medicinally to treat body aches, fevers, whooping cough, and tuberculosis. They also used a poultice made from the roots to treat blisters, sores, insect bites, bruises and wounds. The leaves, stems, roots and seeds of arrowleaf balsamroot were commonly eaten by several western tribes. The seeds were eaten raw, ground into flour for making cakes, used for cooking oil, or mixed with other foods.