Species: Packera streptanthifolia (Greene) W.A. Weber & A. Löve

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Packera streptanthifolia (Greene) W.A. Weber & A. Löve

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Asteraceae or Compositae

Genus:

Packera

Species Synonyms:

Senecio cymbalarioides ssp. moresbiensis Calder & Taylor
Packera oodes (Rydb.) W.A. Weber
Senecio acutidens Rydb.
Senecio cymbalarioides Nutt., non Buek
Senecio fulgens Rydb.
Senecio jonesii Rydb.
Senecio laetiflorus Greene
Senecio leonardii Rydb.
Senecio longipetiolatus Rydb.
Senecio oodes Rydb.
Senecio pammelii Greenm.
Senecio platylobus Rydb.
Senecio rubricaulis Greene
Senecio streptanthifolius Greene
Senecio subcuneatus Rydb.
Senecio suksdorfii Greenm.
Senecio wardii Greene
Senecio aureus var. borealis Torr. & Gray
Senecio cymbalarioides var. borealis (Torr. & Gray) Greenm.
Senecio cymbalarioides var. suksdorfii (Greenm.) M.E. Peck
Senecio streptanthifolius var. borealis (Torr. & Gray) J.F. Bain
Senecio streptanthifolius var. kluanei J.F. Bain
Senecio streptanthifolius var. laetiflorus (Greene) J.F. Bain
Senecio streptanthifolius var. oodes (Rydb.) J.F. Bain
Senecio streptanthifolius var. Rubricaulis (Greene) J.F. Bain
Senecio streptanthifolius var. wallowensis J.F. Bain

Common Names:

northern groundsel
Rocky Mountain groundsel
northern ragwort

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

Yukon Territory – Mackenzie District – northwestern Saskatchewan, British Columbia – central Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan:

northern – central Saskatchewan; Lake Athabasca – Candle Lake

Ecoregion:

Mid-Boreal Upland, Churchill River Upland, Athabasca Plain, Tazin Lake Upland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

sand, limestone outcrops, clay, or silt on dry hillsides, in open woods, and in disturbed areas

Associated Species:

Picea mariana, Pinus banksiana

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Vulnerable

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S1S2

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Packera streptanthifolia is vulnerable because it is somewhat regionally restricted and most of the local populations are small. No immediate threats are known or anticipated.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

10 – 50 cm tall

Roots:

fibrous; short caudex or rhizome

Stems:

perennial, usually solitary, abundantly leafy only towards base, nearly glabrous

Leaves:

basal and cauline; basal leaves many, petiolate, 2 – 7 cm long (including petiole), obovate to oval, base tapered to petiole, glabrous, slightly fleshy, margin entire except for 3 – 5 crenate apical teeth; cauline leaves few, sessile, 2 – 3 cm long, to 0.5 cm wide, reduced upwards, linear-lanceolate, glabrous, slightly fleshy, deeply toothed to shallowly pinnatifed

Inflorescence:

heads more than 2, in loose, terminal, bracteate cluster, 1 – 2 cm broad; peduncles long; phyllaries 15 – 25 in one series, 4 – 7 mm high, 1 – 2 mm wide, lanceolate, brownish at bottom; receptacle jagged or fringed around achene pits

Flowers:

ligulate florets 6 – 8 mm long, conspicuous, yellow-orange

Fruits:

achene reddish-brown, glabrous; pappus white

*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 glabrose or glabrate; basal leaves usually entire or dentate, not lobed	2
1 Plants usually tomentose (sometime glabrous) and/ or with basal leaves; basal leaves if present pinnately lobed or dissected	8

2 Ray florets 0 or 8 – 13 (corolla 2 – 7 mm long); plants of northern Saskatchewan	3
2 Ray florets 0 or 5 – 21 (corolla 4 – 12 mm long); plants from various areas of Saskatchewan	4

3 Basal leaves thick; heads few (1-4); involucre purple or at least purple-tipped	P. pauciflora
3 Basal leaves thin; head numerous (8 – 20); involucre green	P. indecora

4 Basal and lower cauline leaves not tapering to petiole, base truncate to cordate	5
4 Basal and lower cauline leaves gradually tapering to petiole	6

5 Basal leaves lanceolate to narrowly ovate, apex acute; margins dentate or serrate	P. pseudaurea
5 Basal leaves cordate, obovate, or ovate, apex rounded; margins crenate, dentate, lobed or wavy	P. streptanthifolia

6 Plants with a taproots and woody caudex; may be tomentose in leaf axils	P. tridenticulata
6 Plants with fibrous roots, taproots or rhizomes; leaves and stems generally all glabrous	7

7 Basal leaves thick, oblanceolate to spatulate; disc florets 35 – 60	P. streptanthifolia
7 Basal leaves thin, lanceolate to elliptic; disc florets 50 – 80	P. paupercula

8 Stems and leaves persistently tomentose	P. plattensis
8 Stems and leaves usually glabrous, sometimes tomentose 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 orbicular to broadly ovate	11
10 Basal leaves narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate	12

11 Margins of basal leaves entire to toothed; involucre glabrous	P. streptanthifolia
11 Margins of basal leaves toothed to pinnatisect; involucre densely tomentose	P. plattensis

12 Basal leaves toothed to lobed, floccose tomentose to glabrescent	P. plattensis
12 Basal leaves entire, except towards dentate apex, white woolly	P. cana