Flora of North America species comparison

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Packera schweinitziana

Packera castoreus

New England groundsel, Schweinitz's groundsel, Schweinitz's ragwort

beaver mountain ragwort
Habit Perennials, 40–70+ cm, fibrous-rooted and/or rhizomatous (rhizomes weakly branched). Perennials, 3–9+ cm; usually fibrous-rooted, sometimes rhizomatous (bases erect or ascending, branched).
Stems

1, glabrous or leaf axils sparsely tomentose.

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

(and proximal cauline) petiolate;

blades narrowly ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 30–70+ × 10–20+ mm, bases abruptly contracted to subcordate, margins usually serrate-dentate, sometimes subcrenate (apices acute).

(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; lacerate to subcrenate).

gradually reduced (becoming sessile and bractlike).
Peduncles

bracteate, glabrous.

ebracteate.
Ray florets

8–13;

corolla laminae 4–7 mm.

0.
Disc florets

50–70+;

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

not seen.
Phyllaries

13 or 21, light green (tips sometimes black), 5–8 mm, glabrous.

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

conspicuous.

inconspicuous.
Heads

8–20+ in loose, corymbiform arrays.

1–4+, in corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

1–1.5 mm, glabrous;

pappi 5–5.5 mm.

not seen (reported to be glabrous).
2n

= 44.

Packera schweinitziana

Packera castoreus
Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering late Jul–late Sep.
Habitat Sunny, wet areas, meadows, swamps, ditches, roadsides Ridges, spruce-fir communities, igneous soils
Elevation 100–1800 m (300–5900 ft) 3300–3900 m (10800–12800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ME; NC; NH; NY; TN; VT; NB; NS; PE; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
UT
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Packera schweinitziana is rarely mistaken for any other taxon. It grows on slightly acidic soils and may reproduce vegetatively by branched rhizomes. The group of populations on Roan Mountain on the Tennessee-North Carolina border is disjunct from the main distribution.

(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. 598. 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. 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. 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 schweinitzianus, Senecio aureus var. lanceolatus, Senecio robbinsii Senecio castoreus
Name authority (Nuttall) W. A. Weber & Á. Löve: Phytologia 49: 48. (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).



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