Fendler’s ragwort

Senecio fendleri A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 108. 1849; S. canovirens Rydberg; S. fendleri var. molestus Greenman; S. nelsonii Rydberg; S. rosulatus Rydberg; S. salicinus Rydberg

Perennials, 10–40+ cm; rhizomatous (rhizomes horizontal to suberect, branched). Stems 1 or multiple (crowded to subcespitose), floccose-tomentose or glabrescent. Basal leaves petiolate; blades lanceolate to oblanceolate, 30–60+ × 10–30+ mm, bases tapering, margins shallowly, evenly pinnatifid to pinnatisect or wavy (adaxial faces floccose-tomentose or subglabrescent). Cauline leaves gradually reduced (sessile; lanceolate to oblanceolate, pinnatisect to wavy). Heads 6–25+ in open or compact, corymbiform arrays. Peduncles bracteate, densely to irregularly floccose. Calyculi 0 or inconspicuous (bractlets red-tinged). Phyllaries 13, green, 5–7 mm, floccose proximally to glabrescent distally. Ray florets 6–8+; corolla laminae 5–7 mm. Disc florets 30–40+; corolla tubes 2.5–3 mm, limbs, 2.5–3.5 mm. Cypselae 2.5–3 mm, glabrous; pappi 4–5 mm. 2n = 46.

Flowering late May–early Oct. Steep slopes, loose, dry rocky or gravelly soils, along streams, open forests, disturbed sites; 1600–3200 m; Colo., N.Mex., Wyo.

Packera fendleri is abundant, almost weedy in the southern Rocky Mountains. It thrives in a wide range of elevations and in a wide variety of habitats; flowering times vary. It frequently grows in close association with other species of Packera and may hybridize with them.