Senecio eremophilus Richardson
Family: Asteraceae
Desert Ragwort,  more...
Senecio eremophilus image
Photo ©Al Schneider, swcoloradowildflowers.com  

Perennials, (20-)40-80(-140) cm (caudices branched, fibrous-rooted). Herbage glabrous or glabrate. Stems single or loosely clustered. Leaves ± evenly distributed (proximal often withering before flowering); petiolate or sessile; blades ovate or lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, (3-)6-12(-20) × (1-)1.5-5(-7) cm, bases tapered, margins usually pinnate to lacerate, sometimes dentate. Heads 10-60+ in compound corymbiform arrays. Calyculi of 3-5+ (prominent or inconspicuous) bractlets (lengths to 3 / 4 phyllaries). Phyllaries (± 8) ± 13, 3-8+ mm, tips green or black. Ray florets ± 8; corolla laminae 5-10 mm. Cypselae usually glabrous, sometimes hirtellous. 2n = 38, 40, 44.

Varieties of Senecio eremophilus are distinguished by head size and distribution. Varieties eremophilus and macdougalii are notably different; var. kingii is intermediate in both morphology and distribution.

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Perennial, 30-100 cm tall; stems 1 to several, loosely clustered, often reddish or purplish; herbage glabrous or nearly so; caudex branched; fibrous-rooted.

Leaves: Cauline (the lower blades often withered by flowering), alternate, ovate or lanceolate in outline, 2-15 cm long, 1-5 cm wide, margins pinnately lobed, cleft irregularly, or toothed; blades petiolate or sessile.

Flowers: Heads 3-12, seldom as many as 25, arranged in raceme-like or panicle-like arrays, nodding (especially when young); bractlets subtending the involucre 4-10, linear; involucre 8-10 mm long, 10-15 mm wide; phyllaries mostly 13 or 21, in 2 series, tips green, margins membranous; disk flowers only, numerous, yellow; flowers July- September.

Fruits: Achene, glabrous to minutely hairy along the ribs; pappus of 30-80 white to straw-colored bristles.

Ecology: Meadows, streamsides, mountain slopes, coniferous forests, roadsides, disturbed habitats; 1900-3700 m (6500-12000 ft); Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Yavapai counties; southwestern Canada, north-ce

Notes: Two varieties occur within our region and are distinguished as follows: var. kingii has conspicuous bractlets subtending the involucre, involucres are 6-8 mm wide, with black tips on the phyllaries, and the ligules of ray flowers are 5-8 mm long; var. macdougalli has inconspicuous bractlets subtending the involucre, involucres are 4-5 mm wide, usually with black tips on the phyllaries, and the ligules of the ray flowers are smaller, 5-6 mm long. Senecio vulgaris (old-man-in-the- Spring) is an introduced annual, mostly 20-50 cm tall, with glabrous to sparsely tomentose herbage (particularly when young); leaves are ovate to oblanceolate, 2-10 cm long, 0.5-2 cm wide, the margins dentate or minutely lobed; heads are numerous, arranged in corymb-like arrays; bracts subtending the involucre are black-tipped; ray flowers are absent, disk flowers are numerous, yellow. It typically occurs in disturbed sites.

Editor: Springer et al. 2008

Senecio eremophilus image
Photo ©Al Schneider, swcoloradowildflowers.com  
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image
Photo ©Al Schneider, swcoloradowildflowers.com  
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image
Senecio eremophilus image