|
| Packera pauciflora
(Pursh) A. & D. Löve |
|
| |
| TAXONOMY |
| |
| Family: |
Asteraceae or Compositae |
| Genus: |
Packera |
| |
| Species Synonyms: |
Senecio discoideus (Hook.) Britt.
Senecio pauciflorus Pursh |
| Common Names: |
alpine groundsel
few-flowered ragwort |
| |
| DISTRIBUTION |
| |
| Canada: |
Yukon Territory – Mackenzie District –
northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba – Labrador – southern British
Columbia, southwestern Alberta, Manitoba – Newfoundland |
| Saskatchewan: |
northern Saskatchewan; Hasbala Lake |
| Ecoregion: |
Selwyn Lake Upland |
| |
| HABITAT |
| |
| Saskatchewan: |
boulder fields and cliffs |
| Associated Species: |
black spruce, dwarf birch |
| |
| RARITY STATUS |
| |
Provincial
Status According
to Harms (2003): |
Threatened |
| Nature Conservancy
Status: |
G4G5 SR |
Saskatchewan
Species at
Risk Status: |
None |
| COSEWIC Status:
|
None |
| |
| Alpine groundsel
is threatened due to extreme rarity and restriction to one region of the
province. There is little information available on this species in Saskatchewan
and may be ranked otherwise upon collection of additional data. |
| |
| SPECIES
DESCRIPTION |
| |
| Height: |
10 – 50 cm |
| Roots: |
fibrous |
| Stems: |
perennial, solitary, thin, hairless |
| Leaves: |
basal and on the stem; basal leaves with slender
stalks, 5 – 10 cm long, 1 – 2 cm wide, oval or oblong, base
rounded to wedge-shaped to heart-shaped, hairless, thick, fleshy, margin
toothed; cauline leaves few, stalked to sessile upwards, lance-shaped to
inversely lance-shaped, hairless, thick, fleshy, toothed to lobed or divided
upwards |
| Inflorescence: |
heads 2 – 5 in clusters, 0.5 cm wide; bracts
in one series, 1 - 2 mm wide, green with purple tips, hairless; receptacle
smooth |
| Flowers: |
ray flowers nearly always lacking; disc flowers
red-orange |
| Fruits: |
achenes 3 – 3.5 mm long, plump, dark red-brown,
hairless |
| |
| KEY TO PACKERA
IN SASKATCHEWAN |
| Note: This
complex needs taxonomic revision. The key may not be accurate in
all cases. Please refer to another key if you encounter difficulty with
this one. |
| |
|
| 1 Plants usually hairless or nearly
so; basal leaves usually entire or toothed, not lobed |
2 |
| 1 Plants usually woolly-hairy (sometime
glabrous) and/ or with basal leaves; basal leaves if present pinnately lobed
or dissected |
8 |
| |
|
2 Ray flowers 0 or 8 – 13 (petals
2 – 7 mm long); plants of northern Saskatchewan
|
3 |
| 2 Ray flowers 0 or 5 – 21 (petals
4 – 12 mm long); plants from various areas of Saskatchewan |
4 |
| |
|
| 3 Basal leaves thick; heads few (1
– 4); bracts purple or at least purple-tipped |
P. pauciflora |
| 3 Basal leaves thin; head numerous
(8 – 20); bracts green |
P. indecora |
| |
|
| 4 Basal and lower stem leaves not
tapering to stalk, base square to heart-shaped |
5 |
| 4 Basal and lower stem leaves gradually
tapering to stalk |
6 |
| |
|
| 5 Basal leaves lance-shaped to narrowly
oval, tip short-tapered; margin toothed |
P. pseudaurea |
| 5 Basal leaves heart-shaped, spoon-shaped,
or oval, tip rounded; margin toothed, lobed or wavy |
P. streptanthifolia |
| |
|
| 6 Plants with a taproots and woody
persistent stem base; may be woolly in leaf axils |
P. tridenticulata |
| 6 Plants with fibrous, taproots or
rhizomes, persistent stem base if present not woody; leaves and stems generally
all hairless |
7 |
| |
|
| 7 Basal leaves thick, inversely lance-shaped
to spatula-shaped; disc flowers 35 – 60 |
P. streptanthifolia |
| 7 Basal leaves thin, lance-shaped
to elliptic; disc flowers 50 – 80 |
P. paupercula |
| |
|
| 8 Stems and leaves persistently woolly |
P. plattensis |
| 8 Stems and leaves usually hairless,
sometimes woolly at base or in leaf axils |
9 |
| |
|
| 9 Plants 3 – 10 cm tall; heads
few (1-6) |
P. cana |
| 9 Plants 10 – 50 cm tall; heads
several (6 – 30) |
10 |
| |
|
| 10 Basal leaves nearly circular to
broadly oval |
11 |
| 10 Basal leaves narrowly elliptic
to spoon-shaped |
12 |
| |
|
| 11 Margins of basal leaves entire
to toothed; bracts hairless |
P. streptanthifolia |
| 11 Margins of basal leaves toothed
to divided; bracts densely woolly |
P. plattensis |
| |
|
| 12 Basal leaves toothed to lobed;
tangled woolly to nearly hairless |
P. plattensis |
| 12 Basal leaves entire, except towards
toothed tip; white woolly |
P. cana |
|
