Flora of North America species comparison

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Senecio spartioides

broom groundsel, broom senecio, broom-like ragwort, grass-leaf ragwort, many-head groundsel
Habit Subshrubs, 20–120+ cm (taproots forming woody crowns).
Herbage

usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely, unevenly hairy.
Stems

usually multiple (branching and arching upward).
Leaves

evenly distributed (proximal often smaller);

sessile or obscurely petiolate;

blades narrowly linear to filiform (or parted into linear-filiform lobes), 5–10 cm × 1–6 mm, bases ± linear, ultimate margins entire.
Ray florets

± 5 (± 13);

corolla laminae 8–12 mm.
Phyllaries

usually ± 8, sometimes ± 13, (5–)6–9(–10) mm, tips green or minutely black.
Calyculi

0 or of 1–3+ (minute, inconspicuous) bractlets.
Heads

10–20(–60) in compound corymbiform arrays (involucres cylindric or narrowly campanulate, 3–6 mm diam.).
Cypselae

usually hirtellous, sometimes glabrous.
2n

= 40.

Senecio spartioides
Phenology Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Open, dry disturbed sites, especially stream banks and hillsides
Elevation 1000–3500 m (3300–11500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NE; NM; NV; SD; TX; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Plants with the leaves parted into lobes that are seldom more than 1 mm wide have been recognized as Senecio spartioides var. multicapitatus (or as S. multicapitatus); expression of the character is inconsistent throughout the range and recognition of the two entities is all but impossible to maintain.

Senecio spartioides apparently hybridizes with S. eremophilus in Garfield County, Utah, and perhaps elsewhere (cf., Holmgren, Reveal, and LaFrance 3463, BRY, KSC, NY). The name Senecio toiyabensis rests upon materials that suggest introgression with S. fremontii. Some specimens usually referred to 41. S. pattersonensis suggest introgression with S. spartioides.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 559.
Parent taxa 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. 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. sphaerocephalus, S. spribillei, S. squalidus, S. sylvaticus, S. taraxacoides, S. triangularis, S. viscosus, S. vulgaris, S. warnockii, S. wootonii
Synonyms S. andersonii, S. incurvus, S. multicapitatus, S. serra var. sanctus, S. spartioides var. granularis, S. toiyabensis
Name authority Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 2: 438. (1843)
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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