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 spartioides

Senecio elegans

broom groundsel, broom senecio, broom-like ragwort, grass-leaf ragwort, many-head groundsel

purple ragwort, red-purple ragwort
Habit Subshrubs, 20–120+ cm (taproots forming woody crowns). Annuals, 20–40(–60) cm (taprooted).
Herbage

usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely, unevenly hairy.

(somewhat sticky) hairy or unevenly glabrate.
Stems

usually multiple (branching and arching upward).

single (often branching distally).
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.

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 (± 13);

corolla laminae 8–12 mm.

± 13;

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

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

± 13+, 6–10 mm, tips black.
Calyculi

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

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

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

8–20 in corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

usually hirtellous, sometimes glabrous.

usually hairy.
2n

= 40.

= 20.

Senecio spartioides

Senecio elegans
Phenology Flowering summer–fall. Flowering mostly spring–summer (sparingly at other times).
Habitat Open, dry disturbed sites, especially stream banks and hillsides Disturbed coastal sites
Elevation 1000–3500 m (3300–11500 ft) 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NE; NM; NV; SD; TX; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Africa [Introduced in North America]
[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.)

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. 559. 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. 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
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. 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) 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

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