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 indecora

Packera musiniensis

elegant groundsel, rayless mountain butterweed, rayless mountain groundsel, rayless mountain ragwort
Habit Perennials, 10–100 cm; taprooted (caudices erect to suberect, relatively stout, branched). Perennials, 5–10 cm; ± rhizomatous (bases loosely branched, elongated, horizontal to ascending).
Stems

1 or 2–3, loosely clustered, glabrous or glabrate.

1 (sometimes branched from bases), densely white- or gray-tomentose.
Basal leaves

petiolate;

blades elliptic-ovate, oblong, or subreniform, 20–50 × 10–40+ mm, bases subcordate, truncate, or cuneate, margins usually crenate-dentate to coarsely dentate-lacerate, seldom subentire.

petiolate;

blades oblanceolate, 20–30+ × 5–13+ mm, bases tapering, margins pinnatifid to crenate.
Cauline leaves

gradually reduced (petiolate, resembling basals, sublyrate or dissected; distal sessile, subentire to pinnatifid).

gradually reduced (sessile; proximal and mid nearly equaling basals, distals bractlike).
Peduncles

ebracteate (or bractlets inconspicuous), glabrous or glabrate.

ebracteate, tomentose.
Ray florets

0 or 8–10;

corolla laminae (deep yellow) 3–5 mm.

0 or 1;

corolla laminae ca. 6 mm.
Disc florets

60–70+;

corolla tubes 2–3 mm, limbs 2.5–3.5 mm.

not seen.
Phyllaries

13 or 21, green (tips sometimes reddish), 7–9 mm, glabrous.

8–13, yellow-green to purple (or with purplish midstripes), 8–9.5 mm, sparsely tomentose (apices rounded).
Calyculi

conspicuous (bractlets green, tips sometimes reddish).

0 or inconspicuous.
Heads

8–20+ in subumbelliform arrays.

3–15+ in corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

1–2 mm, glabrous;

pappi 3–4 mm.

not seen (reported to be glabrous).
2n

= 46, 126, 176, 184.

= 46.

Packera indecora

Packera musiniensis
Phenology Flowering mid Jun–late Aug. Flowering mid Jul–mid Aug.
Habitat Damp meadows, along streams, wet woodlands Subalpine and alpine ridges, talus or scree slopes, barren areas on Flagstaff limestone
Elevation 0–2300 m (0–7500 ft) 2900–3300 m (9500–10800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; MI; MN; MT; WA; WY; AB; BC; LB; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
UT
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Packera indecora is found at relatively low elevations in eastern Canada and at middle to subalpine elevations in the western cordillera. It closely resembles P. pauciflora and it is often difficult to identify specimens in the herbarium. Biosystematic studies (J. F. Bain and J. Whitton 1994) have indicated that although they are morphologically similar, P. indecora and P. pauciflora have distinctly different physiologies and should be maintained as distinct taxa.

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

Of conservation concern.

Packera musiniensis is a high-elevation dwarf species; its affinities within Packera are still uncertain. Welsh believed it to be allied to P. cana or P. multilobata, or both.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 590. FNA vol. 20, p. 592.
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. fendleri, P. flettii, P. franciscana, P. ganderi, P. glabella, P. greenei, P. hartiana, P. hesperia, P. hyperborealis, 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. castoreus, 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. 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 indecorus, Senecio burkei, Senecio idahoensis, Senecio pauciflorus subsp. fallax Senecio musiniensis
Name authority (Greene) Á. Löve & D. Löve: Bot. Not. 128: 520. (1976) (S. L. Welsh) Trock: Sida 21: 1643. (2005)
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, UW Burke Herbarium

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