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 sylvaticus

Senecio warnockii

heath groundsel, wood groundsel, woodland groundsel, woodland ragwort

Warnock's ragwort
Habit Annuals, (15–)30–80+ cm (taproots fibrous-rooted). Subshrubs, 20–40 cm (taproots forming woody crowns).
Herbage

puberulent (hairs abundant, curly).

closely, unevenly lanate-floccose, glabrescent.
Stems

single.

usually multiple (strict or nearly so, arching-erect).
Leaves

evenly distributed; petiolate;

blades obovate to oblong, 3–7(–12) × 1–3(–4) cm, usually 1–2-pinnate, bases tapered, ultimate margins dentate (distal leaves similar, clasping, bractlike).

(often recurved and thickish-turgid) concentrated distally on stems;

sessile or obscurely petiolate;

blades narrowly linear to filiform (2–7 cm × 1 mm), bases ± linear, margins entire.
Ray florets

0 or 1–8+;

corolla laminae usually 1–2+ mm (barely surpassing phyllaries).

usually ± 8, rarely 0;

corolla laminae 5–10 mm.
Phyllaries

± 13 (± 21), 4–7+ mm, tips greenish or minutely black.

± 13, 5–8 mm, tips green or minutely black.
Calyculi

0 or of 1–5+ linear to filiform bractlets.

0 or of 3–5 bractlets (lengths less than 1/2 phyllaries).
Heads

12–24 in corymbiform arrays.

3–10 in corymbiform arrays (involucres weakly campanulate).
Cypselae

hairy (especially on angles).

glabrous.
2n

= 40.

Senecio sylvaticus

Senecio warnockii
Phenology Flowering late spring–summer (northern areas of cool, climate); winter (southern areas). Flowering fall (perhaps spring–summer).
Habitat Mildly disturbed woodlands, open, sandy sites Open sites, gypseous soils
Elevation 100–300 m (300–1000 ft) 800–1500 m (2600–4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; LA; MA; MI; NJ; OH; OR; PA; WA; WI; BC; NB; NF; NS; PE; QC; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NM; TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Senecio sylvaticus is a Eurasian weed that favors cool, wet climates. It is well established in coastal areas of the Pacific Coast and in parts of Newfoundland and Quebec; elsewhere in the flora, it appears to be sporadic.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Of conservation concern.

Senecio warnockii is infrequently collected; additional study may show it to be an edaphic phase of S. flaccidus. The restriction to gypseous soils and the gross aspect combine to make it distinctive.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 563. FNA vol. 20, p. 559.
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. spartioides, S. sphaerocephalus, S. spribillei, S. squalidus, 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. 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. wootonii
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 868. (1753) Shinners: Sida 1: 379. (1964)
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, UW Burke Herbarium

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