Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Roundleaf groundsel

ROUNDLEAF GROUNDSEL

File Size: 66 KB

Packera obovata (Muhl. ex Willd.) W.A. Weber & A. Löve

[=Senecio obovatus Muhl. ex Willd.]

Cherokee County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 8-20 inches

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: March, April, May

Stems:

Erect, single or sometimes clustered from long, slender stolons, glabrous.

Leaves:

Basal leaves in rosette, distinctly stalked, blades egg-shaped to nearly round, 1 to 6 inches long, 1/2 to 2 inches wide, abruptly tapering at base; margins sharp-toothed; stem leaves alternate, stalked, egg- to spoon-shaped, sometimes pinnately-cleft; upper stem leaves reduced to small bracts.

Inflorescences:

Flat-topped cluster of 3-20 heads, terminal.

Flowers:

Principal bracts frequently 13 or 21, 1/6 to 1/4 inch long; ray florets usually 8 or 13, 1/5 to 2/5 inch long, yellow, occasionally absent; disk florets numerous, orange.

Fruits:

Achene, cylindrical, 5- to 10-ribbed, glabrous or lightly hairy, tipped with long, white, weakly barbed hairs; enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Rocky wooded hillsides, stream banks, and moist meadows.

Distribution:

East 1/3 of Kansas.

Comments:

The achenes are dispersed by the wind, but many settle near the parent, causing a patch or colony to form.

Roundleaf groundsel