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

Senecio crassulus

Senecio lugens

mountain meadow butterweed, thick-leaf groundsel, thick-leaf ragwort
Senecio lugens

black-tip groundsel, small blacktip ragwort
Habit Perennials, (15–)20–50(–70) cm (rhizomes branched, ± woody). Perennials, (10–)20–35(–50) cm (rhizomes suberect to creeping).
Herbage

glabrous.

loosely, often unevenly, floccose-tomentose, glabrescent.
Stems

1–(2–4).

single or clustered.
Leaves

(thickish-turgid) progressively reduced distally; petiolate;

blades broadly lanceolate to subelliptic, 2.5–15 × 1–5 cm, bases tapered, margins sharply dentate to subentire (some teeth callous; mid leaves sometimes larger than proximal; distal leaves sessile, smaller, often clasping).

reduced distally; petiolate;

blades narrowly obovate to oblanceolate, (4–)8–18(–25) cm, bases tapered, margins subentire to dentate (denticles callous; mid and distal leaves bractlike, clasping).
Ray florets

± 8 or ± 13;

corolla laminae 5–12 mm.

(± 5) ± 8 (± 13);

corolla laminae 8–10(–15) mm.
Phyllaries

(± 8) ± 13 or ± 21, 5–9 mm, tips black (villous).

(± 8) ± 13 (± 21), 4–7 mm, tips black.
Calyculi

of (1–)3–6 linear to filiform bractlets (lengths to 1/3 phyllaries).

of 2–5 linear bractlets (1–2 mm).
Heads

(1–)4–12 in corymbiform arrays.

(2–)7–12(–20+) in corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

glabrous.

glabrous.
2n

= 40.

= 40, 80.

Senecio crassulus

Senecio lugens
Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Moist to drying hillsides, meadows, other open places in forest associations Moist meadows, gravelly streambeds, open woods in alpine or boreal sites
Elevation 2200–3700 m (7200–12100 ft) 200–2500 m (700–8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; MT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Senecio lugens varies greatly in robustness across its range. It is scattered widely in the Rocky Mountain uplift and adjacent regions from northern Wyoming to Alaska; it is disjunct in the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. Superficially similar to S. integerrimus, S. lugens has well-developed, coarse, spreading rootstocks with branching roots; S. integerrimus arises from foreshortened, buttonlike caudices with abundant unbranched, fleshy-fibrous roots.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 551. FNA vol. 20, p. 554.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Senecioneae > Senecio Asteraceae > tribe Senecioneae > Senecio
Sibling taxa
S. actinella, S. amplectens, S. ampullaceus, S. aphanactis, S. arizonicus, S. aronicoides, S. astephanus, S. atratus, S. bigelovii, S. blochmaniae, S. californicus, S. cannabifolius, S. clarkianus, S. elegans, S. elmeri, S. eremophilus, S. ertterae, S. erucifolius, S. flaccidus, S. fremontii, S. hydrophiloides, S. hydrophilus, S. integerrimus, S. jacobaea, S. lemmonii, S. lugens, S. lyonii, S. megacephalus, S. mohavensis, S. multidentatus, S. neowebsteri, S. parryi, S. pattersonensis, S. pseudoarnica, S. pudicus, S. quaylei, S. rapifolius, S. riddellii, S. sacramentanus, S. scorzonella, S. serra, S. sheldonensis, S. soldanella, S. spartioides, S. sphaerocephalus, S. spribillei, S. squalidus, S. sylvaticus, S. taraxacoides, S. triangularis, S. viscosus, S. vulgaris, S. warnockii, S. wootonii
S. actinella, S. amplectens, S. ampullaceus, S. aphanactis, S. arizonicus, S. aronicoides, S. astephanus, S. atratus, S. bigelovii, S. blochmaniae, S. californicus, S. cannabifolius, S. clarkianus, S. crassulus, S. elegans, S. elmeri, S. eremophilus, S. ertterae, S. erucifolius, S. flaccidus, S. fremontii, S. hydrophiloides, S. hydrophilus, S. integerrimus, S. jacobaea, S. lemmonii, S. lyonii, S. megacephalus, S. mohavensis, S. multidentatus, S. neowebsteri, S. parryi, S. pattersonensis, S. pseudoarnica, S. pudicus, S. quaylei, S. rapifolius, S. riddellii, S. sacramentanus, S. scorzonella, S. serra, S. sheldonensis, S. soldanella, S. spartioides, S. sphaerocephalus, S. spribillei, S. squalidus, S. sylvaticus, S. taraxacoides, S. triangularis, S. viscosus, S. vulgaris, S. warnockii, S. wootonii
Synonyms S. lapathifolius, S. semiamplexicaulis S. glaucescens, S. imbricatus, S. integerrimus var. lugens
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 19: 54. (1883) Richardson: in J. Franklin et al., Narr. Journey Polar Sea, 748. (1823)
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, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

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