Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Packera fendleri

Packera castoreus

Fendler's ragwort, notchleaf groundsel

beaver mountain ragwort
Habit Perennials, 10–40+ cm; rhizomatous (rhizomes horizontal to suberect, branched). Perennials, 3–9+ cm; usually fibrous-rooted, sometimes rhizomatous (bases erect or ascending, branched).
Stems

1 or multiple (crowded to subcespitose), floccose-tomentose or glabrescent.

1 or 2–3, (white) woolly-tomentose.
Basal leaves

petiolate;

blades lanceolate to oblanceolate, 30–60+ × 10–30+ mm, bases tapering, margins shallowly, evenly pinnatifid to pinnatisect or wavy (adaxial faces floccose-tomentose or subglabrescent).

(and proximal cauline) petiolate;

blades obovate to oblanceolate or spatulate, 10–20+ × 5–18 mm, bases tapering, margins entire or crenate (abaxial faces densely tomentose, adaxial glabrescent).
Cauline leaves

gradually reduced (sessile; lanceolate to oblanceolate, pinnatisect to wavy).

gradually reduced (becoming sessile and bractlike).
Peduncles

bracteate, densely to irregularly floccose.

ebracteate.
Ray florets

6–8+;

corolla laminae 5–7 mm.

0.
Disc florets

30–40+;

corolla tubes 2.5–3 mm, limbs, 2.5–3.5 mm.

not seen.
Phyllaries

13, green, 5–7 mm, floccose proximally to glabrescent distally.

purple-tinged, 7–10 mm, tomentose (ciliate distally, apices with dense tufts of hairs).
Calyculi

0 or inconspicuous (bractlets red-tinged).

inconspicuous.
Heads

6–25+ in open or compact, corymbiform arrays.

1–4+, in corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

2.5–3 mm, glabrous;

pappi 4–5 mm.

not seen (reported to be glabrous).
2n

= 46.

Packera fendleri

Packera castoreus
Phenology Flowering late May–early Oct. Flowering late Jul–late Sep.
Habitat Steep slopes, loose, dry rocky or gravelly soils, along streams, open forests, disturbed sites Ridges, spruce-fir communities, igneous soils
Elevation 1600–3200 m (5200–10500 ft) 3300–3900 m (10800–12800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; NM; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
UT
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Packera fendleri is abundant, almost weedy in the southern Rocky Mountains. It thrives in a wide range of elevations and in a wide variety of habitats; flowering times vary. It frequently grows in close association with other species of Packera and may hybridize with them.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Of conservation concern.

Packera castoreus is known only from relatively few collections from the Tushar Mountains in Beaver and Piute counties. Welsh speculated that it may have some affinities with P. cana and P. werneriifolia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 587. FNA vol. 20, p. 582.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Senecioneae > Packera Asteraceae > tribe Senecioneae > Packera
Sibling taxa
P. anonyma, P. antennariifolia, P. aurea, P. bernardina, P. bolanderi, P. breweri, P. cana, P. cardamine, P. castoreus, P. clevelandii, P. contermina, P. crocata, P. cymbalaria, P. cynthioides, P. debilis, P. dimorphophylla, P. eurycephala, P. flettii, P. franciscana, P. ganderi, P. glabella, P. greenei, P. hartiana, P. hesperia, P. hyperborealis, P. indecora, P. ionophylla, P. layneae, P. macounii, P. malmstenii, P. millefolium, P. millelobata, P. multilobata, P. musiniensis, P. neomexicana, P. obovata, P. ogotorukensis, P. pauciflora, P. paupercula, P. plattensis, P. porteri, P. pseudaurea, P. quercetorum, P. sanguisorboides, P. schweinitziana, P. spellenbergii, P. streptanthifolia, P. subnuda, P. tampicana, P. texensis, P. tomentosa, P. tridenticulata, P. werneriifolia
P. anonyma, P. antennariifolia, P. aurea, P. bernardina, P. bolanderi, P. breweri, P. cana, P. cardamine, P. clevelandii, P. contermina, P. crocata, P. cymbalaria, P. cynthioides, P. debilis, P. dimorphophylla, P. eurycephala, P. fendleri, P. flettii, P. franciscana, P. ganderi, P. glabella, P. greenei, P. hartiana, P. hesperia, P. hyperborealis, P. indecora, P. ionophylla, P. layneae, P. macounii, P. malmstenii, P. millefolium, P. millelobata, P. multilobata, P. musiniensis, P. neomexicana, P. obovata, P. ogotorukensis, P. pauciflora, P. paupercula, P. plattensis, P. porteri, P. pseudaurea, P. quercetorum, P. sanguisorboides, P. schweinitziana, P. spellenbergii, P. streptanthifolia, P. subnuda, P. tampicana, P. texensis, P. tomentosa, P. tridenticulata, P. werneriifolia
Synonyms Senecio fendleri, Senecio canovirens, Senecio fendleri var. molestus, Senecio nelsonii, Senecio rosulatus, Senecio salicinus Senecio castoreus
Name authority (A. Gray) W. A. Weber & Á. Löve: Phytologia 49: 46. (1981) (S. L. Welsh) Kartesz: in J. T. Kartesz and C. A. Meacham, Synth. N. Amer. Fl., nomencl. innov. 20. (1999)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers