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 quaylei

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

quayle's ragwort
Habit Perennials, (15–)20–50(–70) cm (rhizomes branched, ± woody). Annuals, 80–120 cm (taproots surrounded by fibrous roots).
Herbage

glabrous.

glabrous or sparsely hairy.
Stems

1–(2–4).

single.
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).

evenly distributed; petiolate;

blades ovate, 12–24 × 8–12 cm, bases tapered or contracted, margins wavy and dentate to denticulate (mid leaves sessile, ovate to broadly lanceolate, nearly as large as basal and proximal; distal sessile, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, becoming bractlike).
Ray florets

± 8 or ± 13;

corolla laminae 5–12 mm.

± 8;

corolla laminae 7–10 mm.
Phyllaries

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

± 13, 7–9 mm, tips green to grayish.
Calyculi

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

of 2–7 bractlets (1–3 mm).
Heads

(1–)4–12 in corymbiform arrays.

20–40+ in corymbiform arrays or cymiform clusters.
Cypselae

glabrous.

hirtellous.
2n

= 40.

Senecio crassulus

Senecio quaylei
Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering spring.
Habitat Moist to drying hillsides, meadows, other open places in forest associations Open, disturbed sites, especially roadsides
Elevation 2200–3700 m (7200–12100 ft) 200–400 m (700–1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Senecio quaylei resembles S. ampullaceus; it is more robust and glabrous, and has prominently clasping mid-cauline leaves. The size and robustness suggest that it may be a polyploid derivative of S. ampullaceus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 551. FNA vol. 20, p. 561.
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. lugens, S. lyonii, S. megacephalus, S. mohavensis, S. multidentatus, S. neowebsteri, S. parryi, S. pattersonensis, S. pseudoarnica, S. pudicus, 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
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 19: 54. (1883) T. M. Barkley: Sida 19: 286, figs. 1, 2. (2000)
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

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