Senecio lugens Richardson var. ochroleucus A. Gray in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(2): 388. 1884; S. cordatus Nuttall; S. exaltatus Nuttall subsp. ochraceus Piper; S. leibergii Greene; S. ochraceus (Piper) Piper

Herbage arachnose, tomentose, or villous, unevenly glabrescent, at flowering. Leaves: basal and proximal cauline distinctly petiolate; blades (cauline) usually ovate to rounded-deltate, sometimes obovate to oblanceolate. Heads (3–)8–12(–40+). Phyllaries ± linear, 7–10 mm, tips green or minutely black. Ray florets usually 5; corollas white or ochroleucous, laminae (5–)10–15(–20) mm.

Flowering spring. Moist openings in coniferous woodlands; 600–1700 m; Alta., B.C.; Calif., Idaho, Mont., Oreg., Wash.