Packera plattensis |
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plains butterweed, prairie groundsel |
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Habit | Biennials or perennials, 20–60+ cm; rhizomatous and/or fibrous-rooted (bases erect to suberect), sometimes stoloniferous (mostly eastern populations). |
Stems | 1 or 2–3, clustered, floccose-tomentose proximally and in leaf axils, otherwise sparsely tomentose or glabrescent. |
Basal leaves | (and proximal cauline) petiolate; blades narrowly elliptic to elliptic-ovate or oblanceolate to suborbiculate or sublyrate, 20–70+ × 10–30+ mm, bases tapering to rounded or abruptly contracted, margins subentire to crenate, serrate-dentate, or pinnately lobed (abaxial faces floccose-tomentose, especially along midribs, ± glabrescent). |
Cauline leaves | gradually reduced (petiolate, sublyrate or pinnatisect, abaxial faces sparsely hairy; distals sessile, subentire to irregularly dissected). |
Peduncles | conspicuously bracteate, sparsely to densely tomentose. |
Ray florets | 8–10; corolla laminae 9–10 mm. |
Disc florets | 60–70+; corolla tubes 2.5–3.5 mm, limbs 3.5–4.5 mm. |
Phyllaries | 13 or 21, green (tips sometimes cyanic), 5–6+ mm, densely tomentose proximally, glabrescent distally. |
Calyculi | inconspicuous. |
Heads | 6–20+ in open or congested, corymbiform arrays. |
Cypselae | 1.5–2.5 mm, usually hirtellous, sometimes glabrous; pappi 6.5–7.5 mm. |
2n | = 46, 92. |
Packera plattensis |
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Phenology | Flowering mid Apr–early Jun(–mid Jul, north). |
Habitat | Prairies, meadows, open wooded areas, along highways, railroads, around mining and construction areas, usually on limestone |
Elevation | 50–1800 m (200–5900 ft) |
Distribution |
AR; CO; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; LA; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; ND; NE; NM; OH; OK; PA; SD; TN; VA; WI; WY; ON; SK
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Discussion | Packera plattensis is abundant, widespread, and almost weedy. Putative hybrids with other species are known. Plants in mesic, remnant prairies in the east are sometimes stoloniferous. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 596. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Senecioneae > Packera |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Senecio plattensis, Senecio pseudotomentosus |
Name authority | (Nuttall) W. A. Weber & Á. Löve: Phytologia 49: 48. (1981) |
Web links |