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 lugens

Senecio elegans
Senecio lugens

black-tip groundsel, small blacktip ragwort

purple ragwort, red-purple ragwort
Habit Perennials, (10–)20–35(–50) cm (rhizomes suberect to creeping). Annuals, 20–40(–60) cm (taprooted).
Herbage

loosely, often unevenly, floccose-tomentose, glabrescent.

(somewhat sticky) hairy or unevenly glabrate.
Stems

single or clustered.

single (often branching distally).
Leaves

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).

evenly distributed; petiolate (petiole bases ± expanded);

blades obovate (lyrate to pinnatifid, lobes linear to ± cruciate), 3–8 × 1.5–3.5 cm, bases contracted or tapered, ultimate margins ± dentate to crenate.
Ray florets

(± 5) ± 8 (± 13);

corolla laminae 8–10(–15) mm.

± 13;

corolla laminae (deep red to purple) 10–15 mm.
Phyllaries

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

± 13+, 6–10 mm, tips black.
Calyculi

of 2–5 linear bractlets (1–2 mm).

of 8–14 ± ovate bractlets (lengths to 1/2 phyllaries).
Heads

(2–)7–12(–20+) in corymbiform arrays.

8–20 in corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

glabrous.

usually hairy.
2n

= 40, 80.

= 20.

Senecio lugens

Senecio elegans
Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering mostly spring–summer (sparingly at other times).
Habitat Moist meadows, gravelly streambeds, open woods in alpine or boreal sites Disturbed coastal sites
Elevation 200–2500 m (700–8200 ft) 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; MT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Africa [Introduced in North America]
[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.)

Senecio elegans escapes from cultivation and persists along the central coast of California. Native to South Africa, it is now established widely in areas of Mediterranean climate.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 554. FNA vol. 20, p. 567.
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. 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
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. 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
Synonyms S. glaucescens, S. imbricatus, S. integerrimus var. lugens
Name authority Richardson: in J. Franklin et al., Narr. Journey Polar Sea, 748. (1823) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 869. (1753)
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, UW Burke Herbarium

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