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Oak Creek ragwort

alpine rock butterweed, hoary groundsel

Habit Perennials, 60–100+ cm; taprooted (caudices subligneous, ascending to erect). Perennials, 7–15+ cm; ± rhizomatous (rhizomes branched, sometimes densely crowded).
Stems

1 or 2–4, clustered (proximally deeply purple-tinged, distally lightly tinged), glabrous or tomentose at bases and in leaf axils.

1 or 3–5, clustered (often scapiform), usually floccose, lanate-tomentose, or canescent, sometimes glabrate.

Basal leaves

(and proximal cauline) petiolate;

blades obovate or lyrate (pinnately lobed, lateral lobes 2–6+ pairs, their bases petioluliform, terminal lobes larger than laterals, midribs narrowly winged), 60–160+ × 20–40+ mm, bases wide, ultimate margins sharply dentate, crenate-dentate, or irregularly incised.

(either of two forms): usually (1) sessile, sometimes petiolate;

blades narrowly lanceolate to elliptic, 15–40+ × 5–25 mm, bases tapering, margins entire or dentate toward apices (often revolute), sometimes (2) petiolate;

blades ovate to orbiculate, 10–20 × 5–15 mm, bases tapering to abruptly contracted, margins entire or wavy, sometimes dentate toward apices.

Cauline leaves

gradually reduced (petiolate or sessile; shallowly lobed, midribs ± winged, distals bractlike, dentate to incised).

abruptly reduced (bractlike).

Peduncles

ebracteate, glabrous.

inconspicuously bracteate, glabrous or densely hairy.

Ray florets

(8–)13;

corolla laminae 6–10+ mm.

0, 8, or 13;

corolla laminae 5–10 mm.

Disc florets

60–70+;

corolla tubes 2–3 mm, limbs 3.5–4.5 mm.

30–50+;

corolla tubes 2.5–3.5 mm, limbs 3–4 mm.

Phyllaries

(13–)21, green (tips yellow), 5–7 mm, glabrous (tips sometimes hairy).

13 or 21, green (tips sometimes cyanic), 4–10 mm, glabrous or hairy.

Calyculi

inconspicuous.

conspicuous (bractlets often cyanic).

Heads

15–40+ in open, cymiform arrays.

1–5(–8) in cymiform to subumbelliform arrays.

Cypselae

1.5–2 mm, glabrous or ± scabrellous;

pappi 5.5–6.5 mm.

1.5–2 mm, glabrous;

pappi 5–6 mm.

2n

= 92.

= 44, 46.

Packera quercetorum

Packera werneriifolia

Phenology Flowering mid Apr–early Jun. Flowering mid Jun–mid Aug.
Habitat Rocky soils, open areas, scrub-oak and pinyon-pine forests, chaparral Rocky talus slopes, sandy soils in forest openings near or above timberline
Elevation 800–2200 m (2600–7200 ft) 2400–3700 m (7900–12100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; NM; NV; UT; WY
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Packera quercetorum is found only infrequently and in relatively small populations in central and southern Arizona and west-central New Mexico. The plants are robust and have probable affinities to P. multilobata. The plants have a bluish tinge when freshly collected and are distinctive in the field.

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

Packera werneriifolia is morphologically variable; it occurs throughout the central Rockies and, sporadically, as far west as the Sierra Nevada. Leaf morphology varies from ovate, elliptic, or narrowly elliptic in the Rockies to narrow with revolute margins in California and Arizona. All specimens are characteristically scapiform.

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

Source FNA vol. 20, p. 598. FNA vol. 20, p. 602.
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. 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. 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. 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
Synonyms Senecio quercetorum, Senecio macropus Senecio aureus var. werneriifolius, Senecio alpicola, Senecio molinarius, Senecio muirii, Senecio perennans, Senecio petraeus, Senecio petrocallis, Senecio petrophilus, Senecio saxosus, Senecio scaposus, Senecio werneriifolius
Name authority (Greene) C. Jeffrey: Kew Bull. 47: 101. (1992) (A. Gray) W. A. Weber & Á. Löve: Phytologia 49: 48. (1981)
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