Burke: Packera hesperia vs. Packera pauciflora

	Packera hesperia	Packera pauciflora
		rayless alpine butterweed, rayless alpine groundsel
Habit		Glabrous, fibrous-rooted perennial from a short, woody base, 1.5-4 dm. tall.
Leaves		Somewhat succulent, the basal ones mostly elliptic-ovate to sub-rotund, abruptly contracted to the truncate base, with rounded teeth and a petiole; cauline leaves reduced and becoming sessile on the upper part of the stem, bluntly toothed or pinnatifid with blunt lobes.
Flowers		Heads 2-6, rarely more, orange or reddish, rayless; involucre 6-8 mm. high, its bracts generally suffused with reddish-purple.

	Packera hesperia	Packera pauciflora
Identification notes		The few discoid heads with orange or reddish disk flowers, along with the rather succulent leaves, should identify this species.
Flowering time		June-August
Habitat		Alpine and subalpine meadows and moist cliffs.
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to northern Washington, disjunct in California and northwest Wyoming, east to Northwest Territory and Alberta, also in eastern Canada. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin		Native
Conservation status		Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. bolanderi, P. cana, P. contermina, P. flettii, P. indecora, P. macounii, P. pauciflora, P. paupercula, P. porteri, P. pseudaurea, P. streptanthifolia, P. subnuda	P. bolanderi, P. cana, P. contermina, P. flettii, P. indecora, P. macounii, P. paupercula, P. porteri, P. pseudaurea, P. streptanthifolia, P. subnuda
Web links	Local floras: CA, OR Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Packera hesperia

Packera pauciflora

rayless alpine butterweed, rayless alpine groundsel

Habit

Glabrous, fibrous-rooted perennial from a short, woody base, 1.5-4 dm. tall.

Leaves

Somewhat succulent, the basal ones mostly elliptic-ovate to sub-rotund, abruptly contracted to the truncate base, with rounded teeth and a petiole;

cauline leaves reduced and becoming sessile on the upper part of the stem, bluntly toothed or pinnatifid with blunt lobes.

Flowers

Heads 2-6, rarely more, orange or reddish, rayless;

involucre 6-8 mm. high, its bracts generally suffused with reddish-purple.

Packera hesperia

Packera pauciflora

Identification notes

The few discoid heads with orange or reddish disk flowers, along with the rather succulent leaves, should identify this species.

Flowering time

June-August

Habitat

Alpine and subalpine meadows and moist cliffs.

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to northern Washington, disjunct in California and northwest Wyoming, east to Northwest Territory and Alberta, also in eastern Canada.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa