Senecio scorzonella
Senecio amplectens
Sierra groundsel, Sierra ragwort
alpine groundsel, showy alpine ragwort
closely lanate to floccose-tomentose, unevenly glabrescent.
(often purplish-tinged) glabrous or sparsely and unevenly hairy, especially near leaf axils and among heads, usually glabrescent.
usually single, rarely clustered.
single or loosely clustered.
reduced distally; obscurely petiolate;
blades oblanceolate to lanceolate, (4–)6–12+ × (1–)1.5–3 cm, bases tapering to winged petioles, margins dentate to denticulate (denticles dark, cartilaginous; mid and distal leaves smaller, bractlike).
usually progressively reduced distally (basal sometimes smaller than proximal or mid leaves);
petiolate (petioles shorter than to equaling blades, often clasping);
blades broadly lanceolate or lanceolate to oblanceolate, (5–)10–20+ × 2–4(–5+) cm, bases tapered, margins dentate to denticulate (distal leaves smaller, bractlike).
usually ± 5, sometimes 0;
corolla laminae 5–8(–10) mm.
usually ± 13, sometimes fewer;
corolla laminae (10–)15–25 mm.
± 13, 3–5 mm, tips usually black.
± 13 or ± 21, tips often black or brownish (sometimes with scattered black hairs).
0 or of 1–3+ lance-deltate to lance-linear bractlets (mostly less than 1 mm).
of 2–5+ linear to filiform bractlets (lengths to 1/2 phyllaries).
(10–)14–24(–30+) in corymbiform arrays.
nodding, 1–5(–10).
glabrous.
glabrous.
= 40, ca. 175–180.
Senecio scorzonella
Senecio amplectens
Senecio scorzonella is restricted to high elevations in the Sierra Nevada–Cascade uplift and the White Mountains of California; it barely enters adjacent Nevada.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
The varieties of Senecio amplectens are distinguished by morphologic tendencies and habitat preferences; there are many intermediates. Where the ranges of the two overlap, var. amplectens occurs at slightly lower elevations than var. holmii.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Plants (30–)40–60+; herbage sometimes sparsely hairy; leaves mostly proximal and mid cauline; phyllaries frequently black or purplish toward tips, sometimes with black hairs on abaxial faces | var. amplectens |
1. Plants (5–)10–20(–30) cm; herbage glabrous or glabrate at flowering; leaves mostly basal and proximal; phyllaries green or light purplish, glabrous | var. holmii |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
PNW Herbaria
