Packera obovata

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Roundleaf ragwort
Packera obovata 001.JPG
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Packera
Species:
P. obovata
Binomial name
Packera obovata

Packera obovata, commonly known as roundleaf ragwort, [1] spoon-leaved ragwort, [2] roundleaf groundsel, [3] or squaw-weed, [4] is an erect perennial herb in the Asteraceae (aster) family native to eastern North America. It was previously called Senecio obovatus. Basal and lower leaves are obovate with toothed margins, while upper leaves are pinnately divided. The ray flowers are yellow and the disk flowers orange-yellow, the inflorescences being held well above the foliage.

Contents

Description

Packera obovata is an erect perennial herb growing to a height of up to 2 ft (60 cm). It has fibrous roots and a basal rosette of leaves up to 1 ft (30 cm) across. The basal leaves are mid-green and hairless, circular, oval or obovate in shape and have crinkly toothed margins. The leaf stalks are about the same length as the leaf blades, green or purplish in colour and usually hairless; some have slight winging and may be cobwebby-pubescent. The flower stalk may also be cobwebby at the base, and bears two or three alternate pinnatifid leaves with irregular lobes. It is topped by a flat-headed panicle, each individual flower-head being up to 0.75 in (2 cm) in diameter. The flower-head has a single row of linear-lanceolate green bracts, eight to sixteen yellow ray-florets and a central mound of orange-yellow disk florets. Both ray and disk florets are followed by brown achenes set in tufts of white hair. The achenes are dispersed by the wind, and the plant can also spread by vegetative growth from stolons or rhizomes. [2]

Distribution and habitat

The native range of P. obovata is northern Mexico, the eastern United States and south-eastern Canada, extending from Coahuila to Quebec and Ontario. It is most common in the southern half of the range. Typical habitats include moist but well-drained calcareous soils, wooded slopes, and rocky areas in shaded or semi-shaded locations. [5]

Ecology

Flowers of P. obovata bloom in the early spring and are visited by cuckoo bees, halictid bees, andrenid bees, hoverflies, tachinid flies and various species of beetle. The larvae of the northern metalmark butterfly (Calephelis borealis) feed on the leaves of the plant, and the white-crossed seed bug (Neacoryphus bicrucis) feeds on the seeds. Like many species of ragwort, the plant is toxic to many herbivorous mammals, but sheep seem more tolerant of it than are most other grazing animals. [2]

P. obovata forms colonies by spreading through rhizomes. Dense colonies can form in wet, sunny areas, while the colony will be sparser with shorter plants in drier, shadier spots. [6]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Helianthus grosseserratus</i> Species of plant

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<i>Silphium integrifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Chaenactis stevioides</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Grindelia ciliata</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Senecio aphanactis</i> Species of flowering plant

Senecio aphanactis, known by the common names chaparral ragwort, rayless ragwort, and California groundsel, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family.

<i>Senecio aronicoides</i> Species of flowering plant

Senecio aronicoides is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name rayless ragwort. It is native to Oregon and northern and central California, where it can be found in the woodlands and forests of mountains and foothills, often in relatively dry habitat. It is a biennial or perennial herb growing up to about 90 centimeters tall from a fleshy root attached to a buttonlike caudex. The plant is often slightly woolly or cobwebby in texture. The leaves have lance-shaped to oval blades measuring up to 20 centimeters long, the largest ones lower on the stem. The inflorescence is a corymb which is flat and spreading, often resembling an umbel. The flower heads are cups lined with black- or green-tipped phyllaries and filled with many gold disc florets. There are usually no ray florets but one or two occasionally emerge from a head. The fruit is a hairless achene tipped with a pappus of long, white bristles.

Packera bernardina is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name San Bernardino ragwort.

<i>Packera bolanderi</i> Species of flowering plant

Packera bolanderi is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names Bolander's ragwort and seacoast ragwort. It is native to the west coast of the United States from Washington to northern California, where it grows in wet coastal forests and woodlands. There are two varieties of the species which differ slightly in morphology and habitat occupied; these varieties have been considered separate species by some authors. The var. bolanderi has thicker leaves, occurs farther south, and occupies more open types of habitat, than does var. harfordii. This plant in general is a perennial herb producing one to three stems up to half a meter tall. The basal leaves have blades up to 12 centimeters long which are divided into several lobes and borne on long, thin petioles. Leaves growing farther up the stem are smaller and have more lobes on their blades. The inflorescence contains several flower heads, each lined with dark green phyllaries. The head contains many golden yellow disc florets and generally either 8 or 13 yellow ray florets each over a centimeter long. The fruit is an achene tipped with a pappus of bristles.

<i>Packera breweri</i> Species of flowering plant

Packera breweri is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Brewer's ragwort. It is endemic to central California, where it occurs in the woodlands and grasslands of the Central Coast Ranges. They are more frequently found in mid-southern counties of California near the coast, such as Kern or Monterey.

Packera ganderi is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Gander's ragwort. It is endemic to southern California, where it is known from a few occurrences in San Diego and Riverside Counties.

<i>Senecio integerrimus</i> Species of flowering plant

Senecio integerrimus is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names lambstongue ragwort and tall western groundsel. It is native to western and central North America, where it grows in grassland, forest, and other habitat. It is a biennial or perennial herb producing one or a few erect stems 20 to 70 centimeters tall from a caudex with fleshy shallow roots. The linear to lance-shaped or triangular leaves are primarily basal, with blades up to 25 cm (10 in) long. The herbage is slightly hairy to woolly or cobwebby. The inflorescence bears several flower heads in a cluster, the middle, terminal head often largest and held on a shorter peduncle, making the cluster look flat. The heads contain many disc florets and usually 8 or 13 ray florets which may be yellow to cream to white in color. Some heads lack ray florets.

Packera ionophylla is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Tehachapi ragwort. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the Tehachapi Mountains, the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, and Alamo Mountain near the Grapevine. It grows in mountain forest habitat.

<i>Packera werneriifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Packera werneriifolia, known by the common names alpine rock butterweed and hoary groundsel, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family. It is native to the western United States in the Sierra Nevada mountain habitat in subalpine and alpine climates, including forests and barren talus.

<i>Packera franciscana</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Helianthus decapetalus</i> Species of sunflower

Helianthus decapetalus, known by the common names thinleaf sunflower and thin-leaved sunflower, is a perennial forb in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the Eastern and Central United States and Canada, from New Brunswick west to Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ontario, south as far as Georgia and Louisiana. It produces yellow composite flowers in late summer or early fall.

<i>Carex eburnea</i> Species of grass-like plant

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<i>Arnica lonchophylla</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Monarda bradburiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Monarda bradburiana, the eastern beebalm or Bradbury's beebalm, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae, that is native to much of the southeastern United States.

<i>Symphyotrichum ontarionis</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to eastern and central North America

Symphyotrichum ontarionis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to eastern North America. Commonly known as Ontario aster and bottomland aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach heights of 120 centimeters. Each flower head has many tiny florets put together into what appear as one.

References

  1. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Packera obovata". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Hilty, John. "Spoon-Leaved Ragwort". Wildflowers of Illinois: Savannas and Thickets. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  3. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org.
  4. Denison, Edgar (2017). Missouri Wildflowers (Sixth ed.). Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri. p. 130. ISBN   978-1-887247-59-7.
  5. "Packera obovata". Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  6. "Know Your Natives – Round-leaf Ragwort". Arkansas Native Plant Society. 8 April 2020.